


The Mysterious Powers Of Alley Spark

by FreckledAuthor



Category: Sanders Sides (Web Series)
Genre: Abusive Parents, Alternate Universe - Superheroes/Superpowers, Army, BFFs, Best Friends, Blood, Bonding, Butterfly Effect, Character Development, Cussing, Dreams and Nightmares, Electricity, Empathy, Family, Family Drama, Family Issues, Fire, Fire Powers, Fluff and Angst, Heroes & Heroines, Human Sides (Sanders Sides), I'm Bad At Tagging, Ice, Ice Powers, Illusions, Light Angst, Loss of Parent(s), Mental Breakdown, Middle School, Multi, Nicknames, Opposites Attract, Orphanage, Orphans, Parent Death, Phone Calls & Telephones, Physical Abuse, Plot Twists, Protectiveness, Robbery, Snakes, Social Anxiety, Some Plot, Spells & Enchantments, Superheroes, Teambuilding, Time Travel, Training, Villains, Violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-05-27
Updated: 2020-03-04
Packaged: 2020-03-20 00:17:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 18
Words: 29,892
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18981292
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FreckledAuthor/pseuds/FreckledAuthor
Summary: So there she was, wandering around aimlessly looking for a pretty boy in a costume at midnight, with her best friend, in the hope this hero could mentor them with their super-secret superpowers. Could Alley's life get any worse? Yes, the answer is yes. Once they find the dashing prince their two lives get a lot more interesting, and their lives change forever, for better or worse. (This is a fanfic of a fanfic. I know it sounds weird, but the world, plot and everything is based off of ResidentAncohor's "Lesson In Practicality" credit to her)





	1. Background

**Author's Note:**

  * For [ResidentAnchor](https://archiveofourown.org/users/ResidentAnchor/gifts).



> This work is inspired by ResidentAnchor's "Lessons In Practicality" you should go read it if you haven't already! So this is basically a fanfic of a fanfic, fanficception!

Look, I don’t know how I got these powers or how my destiny, or whatever, got entangled with my best friends. I wish I hadn’t got these powers, honestly they’re a pain. My names Alley, and my best friends name is Eira. The only people who know about our powers are me, her, and her hippy parents. We met when we were seven, six years ago, her parents hate me, but they trust me. Unlike Eira, I’m not afraid to use my powers, especially when they would be used for self defence, we don’t live in a very safe city. A few months ago a “superhero” became popping up around at night, the news showed some video tapes of the masked hero and he seems to actually have powers, like us! To bad I don’t buy it. Eira and her parents immediately fell for everything he was doing, her parents even joined a stupid fan club! I’m not quite as easily won over, I didn’t trust Eria fully until last year, that's how hard I am to win over.

Me and Eira have done some speculating about how and why our powers popped up. No, we’re not aliens, no toxic chemicals, no lab experiments gone wrong, and not miraculously born with it. I’m a orphan, I had a happy family, no they didn’t die, at least that's not why I ended up here. I think it would have been better if they did die right away. One weird day, I was seven and this was just before I met Eira, they decided they just didn’t want to have a kid anymore, apparently they didn’t get the memo that it’s not something can just decide at the drop of a hat. They did the whole “oh, you’re going to this real nice place and you’re going to stay there for awhile! It will be fun! Like a sleepover!” gag, and I foolishly believed them, they were my parents after all. By the time the lady working there showed me my new bed, I realized they weren’t coming back, I didn’t even get a goodbye, they literally dropped me off at the curb and sped off down the road to their new, happy, kid free lifes. Then a few months later, just when I was starting to accept my new life, there was a fire. It was the biggest fire inside the city that has ever happened, and my parents had started it. The cops said that they were flicking cigerette buds on to the carpet like a couple of idiots, and it caught fire. They both died in that fire, a good captain always goes down with their ship, right? So, now ontop of being abandoned by my parents, the two idiots went and got themselves killed over some stupid cigarette buds. A few days later, I got my powers. I’ve always had a fascination with fire, how it moved and danced in the moonlight, it could be a prayer answered for warmth, or it could end lives of the innocent. Although all the trust I had formed with my parents had been shattered, I still broke down in a crying mess when I heard what had happened. I wished I could go back in time and force the fire away. I guess I got my wish. I can’t go back in time, but I can do quite a few tricks with fire. I can make it so my whole body catches fire, I can control already made fire, and I’m immune to burns. 

Eira Is a different story. Her parents are loving and protective, she’s their only child. Unfortunately, her problems don’t concern her parents, all her problems, are her. Eira has terrible social anxiety, and I’m not talking shy, like to the extreme. She’s tried many different medications to calm her nerves, but none of them seem to help. When someone even looks at her she’ll shut down, she has played dead on the sidewalk because someone complimented her, it sounds funny at first, but it can get really bad. If you want to make friends with her you have to be prepared to be friends with me, because I talk for her. I know her personality like the back of my hand, I know what she would say or answer, so I save her the pain of talking, she’s fine with it. If you’re a stranger, she won’t talk to you until she is very comfortable and trusts you, that could be anywhere from a month to a year. Before we met, she was seven, she had no friends and was extremely isolated. Imagine whenever you or someone else talks you feel a stab of the worst feeling you’ll ever feel in the very depths of your soul. Eventually, talking only to your parents gets really lonely, you’re always lonely even when your surrounded by people. Eira became sad and gloomy, maybe even depressed. She wanted isolation, but not the lonely kind of isolation, the peaceful kind of isolation. What's the ultimate peaceful isolation place? Superman's fortress of solitude of course! And what is his fortress of solitude made of? Ding, ding, ding, ice! She told me she wanted to make a kind of ice bubble around her, like the fortress of solitude, she wanted to block out the world, the crowds, the noise, and the stabby feeling in her gut when she’s in public. Her favorite season has always been winter, it’s the least energetic season, the season of solitude, she likes to call it. So, that's when she got her powers, yep, she turned into Elsa the ice queen. Frost breath is my personal favorite, she can enclose things in a big ice cube just by touching it. Our powers is how we became friends, something we could bond over. Other then her and her parents no one knows about my powers, you could imagine their faces when they found out Eira had powers. Eira can’t do as many tricks as me, we think it could be one of three things. One, she never uses her powers, so she is just to scared to do the things that she actually can do. Two, our powers kinda grow as we use them and add on more tricks we can do, so since she never uses her powers they don’t have the opportunity to grow. Three, her powers simply have more limitations than mine.

After Eira’s parents realized this masked hero had powers like Eira and me, she would send us out every night from eight pm to eleven pm to go on a wild goose chase for this superhero. He doesn’t seem like your everyday cut and dry superhero, he wears a oversized hoodie with a crown on the back, plain blue jeans, a gold plastic party mask, a backpack, and always wears his hood up. You know how everyone thinks it’s incredibly stupid that no one can tell Superman is Clark Kent? Well, I guess it’s more realistic than we think, because with only a small party mask to hide behind, he hasn't been identified yet. So, there we are, two thirteen year old girls wandering around the city every night in hopes to just run into him, and ask for help with our powers, and how to control them better. Mine and Eira’s powers are opposites, so apparently they don’t like each other, I’m one of the very few people who can help comfort Eira when she’s having a attack, but I can’t do much when I can’t get less than 5 feet away from her. Whenever we get less than 5 feet away from each other we both feel nauseous and get a stabbing pain piercing through our whole bodies. It may not be such a big deal, I don’t like physical contact anyway, but imagine your best and only friend is having a mental attack and shutting down, knowing you can help them just by comforting them, but not being able to do more than talking to them. So, we hope if we can get mentored by this mysterious hero, then we can get our powers under control enough to where I can get close enough help her, even for just a minute, when she’s having a attack. 

It had been months of going up and down alleyways looking for trouble, so he could come and save us then talk to him ect, ect. Our once fiery hope was completely out. “Let’s just go home!” I complained sitting down on a bench in the park, “no! You may have given up, but I haven’t, where's your optimism?” Eira sat down on the opposite side of the bench pulling the sleeves of her hoodie over her hands and making little balls out of them. “Ha! There’s where you’re wrong! I’m fluent in pessimism and I never was optimistic!” I countered folding my arms over my chest, Eira stared up at the stars for a second in a sort of trance. “You remember the news last night? The video of him helping that crying boy on the doorstep, how do you think he found him? He can’t be just wandering around, he always gets wherever at the exact right moment, how does he do that? It can’t be pure luck, not that many times” Eira still stared at the stars going through deep thought, “what if he has some kind of senses, not just for criminals, but when someone is sad. Heck! He gave that boy a snack and a water bottle from his backpack!” Eira then turned her head towards me, she always makes that face whenever she has a brilliant idea. I nodded for her to go on, and she returned to looking at the dark sky, “so, what if he has a special sense for when someone's in trouble or sad!" She looked excitedly at me. "Whoopty doo, what does that do for us?" I asked sarcastically, rolling my eyes at her, "what does that do for us? What do you mean, what does that do for us! If we just think bad thoughts-" "done and done" I interrupted giving her a sly look. She rolled her eyes and sighed, shaking her head disapprovingly "what I was going to say was, if we just think of bad thoughts and make ourselves sad, than he might sense it, than show up to comfort us!" She threw her arms in the air looking at me for approval of this plan, "fine I'll do it. But I'm not saying I think it's going to work or that it's not incredibly stupid" I grumbled. We closed our eyes and reached into the backs of our minds. I always imagine I keep all of my most terrible, sad, fearful memories in a chest with a sturdy lock. Then, in times like these, I get the key to the chest and unlock it, it burst opens with sad images and scenes from my life, than I just indulge in the misery. I unlock the chest more times a week than I'd like to admit. I squeezed my eyes shut as images rushed through my head, my fingernails dug a little deeper into the park bench, and I began to drown in the misery. A few minutes passed, our eyes were still squeezed shut, the chilly breeze began to wash over me like a heavy wave, not Eira though, because the cold never bothered her anyway. BU BUMP CHINK! I was about ready to give up and head home, when I heard quiet steps coming along the cobblestone path. I opened my eyes and saw a dark figure walking towards us, I immediately started to feel my hands warming up, all I had to do was touch them to give them a third degree burn. The figure moved closer, his stride was long and confident, he swayed slightly back and forth as he walked. He stopped a few feet in front of us, by now Eira's eyes were wide open with wonderment. He rested his hand on his hip, the street light illuminated the bright gold party mask he wore. He flashed a smile so bright you could practically see the old school movie sparkle coming from his teeth. "Hello ladies, I'm The Prince Of The Night, and I've come to rescue you from whatever your sorrows might be"


	2. The Encounter

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> I had another free write assignment so chapter 2 I guess?

I steaded my stance and stood up. The hero looked as if he was waiting for us to say something, he stood statue still, waiting I guess. I puffed my chest out looking intimidating, despite my fighting skills, I’m quite a small size. He looked confused, Eira still sat starry eyed on the bench. “I’m Alley Spark and over there is Eira Tola, unfortunately, we need your help...” I grumbled. He still looked slightly confused, but he tried to cover it up with another bright smile, either he has a hard time hiding his emotions or i'm just good at spotting fakers. “Um, yes, I’ve come to help! Do you need to talk about something?” He said reagusting his backpack. I took a deep breath in and looked skeptically at him, I still don't know if we can trust him “Eira and I have powers like yours, but we need help controlling them, Eira wants to ask you if you could, kinda, I don’t know, mentore us?” I asked, maintaining my straight face. He looked taken back, like he didn’t know what to do. Finally, he cocked an eyebrow and switched his eyes between the two of us. “How do I know you’re not just trying to trick me? How do I know you really have powers?” he asked, almost taking a step back. I’m honestly surprised, he’s not as dumb as he looks, a very valid concern. I pointed up to the sky and focused on the tingly nerves throughout my whole body, as heat rushed up and through my arm. A small flame flickered at the tip of my finger, it covered from the bottom of my fingernail up. When it first lit he looked alarmed, than when he realized I was completely fine, he relaxed. 

He nodded his head towards her, “what about, um, Eira?” he asked, this time he looked more curious than anything. Eira started to roll herself into her ball, he may be a superhero, but a stranger he still is. He was about to take a step toward her when I jumped in front of her, putting my slightly heated hands up. “No, no, no,” I gave him a warning glare “she has terrible social anxiety, don’t go anywhere near her” I growled, he took the step back. I sat at the other end of the bench and whispered to her, for some reason, she has like some kind of super hearing. “I know you want me to be able to help you, and I know your parents want me to be able to help you, I want to help you! It doesn’t matter how much I don’t trust this guy, he could be our only way out. Please, do something.” I whispered and stood back, she didn’t move from her ball on the bench. I sighed and my perfect posture slumped a bit. Slowly a thin blanket of lce crept over the bench, frost twisted and turned in various beautiful patterns. His eyes widened and he was trying to hide a smile, “so, she has, like, Elsa powers?” He said, giggling a bit. 

 

He’s stupid happy about this, maybe I can use that to our advantage. “So are you going to mentore us or what?” I asked, swiping some frost off the bench and letting it melt in my hand. “I don’t know, I shouldn’t, I could get in trouble...” he mumbled, but I could see that he was still excited about either, teaching us or, Eira’s Elsa powers. Probably the second one. “Get in trouble by who?” I asked, with a hint of tone, he stuttered around with his words for a moment, making nervous hand motions. “Well probably my bo- never mind. I just have never really taught anyone before, especially in this subject.” he fiddled with the backpack string. Could it be? The great super whatever-his-name-is, is...uncertain?! You know, like a real human being?! I decided to push him a little harder, he is clearly very prideful. “So? Are you going to let what's-their-face tell you what you can and can not do? Come on! You’re a superhero! You should, one, be able to make your own choices, and two, help two young superheros in training!” I preached, he kept nodded his head to my words, I don’t even know if he processed what I just said, but I seem to be getting somewhere. Behind me, Eira has started to come up of ball and listen to what I was saying. The hero just kept nodding his head, with each nod he seemed to be convincing himself even more, perfect. “Yeah! You’re right! As the older generation with these kinds of powers, it should be my civil duty to teach the younger generation the hoops! You know what? Here!” He seemed to be convincing himself the more he talked, ha! I don’t even have to do anything! He reached into his backpack and took out a gum wrapper and a pencil, he scribbled down something, folded it up and handed it to me. “Now , I’ve spent enough time here already, off I go” he said, regaining his overkill confidence. He walked a few steps away and it’s like he disappeared in a puff of smoke, but I couldn’t care less. I unfolded the wrapper, it’s a address with a time and date on it. I smiled and turned to Eira, holding the wrapper up in victory “Eira, we got our first lesson!”


	3. The Belly Of The Beast

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alley and Eira go to their first training session, and finally meet all the sides.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter is basically four pages of awkward tension and conversations, and i also didn't really now how to end it so...enjoy?

I walked Eira back to her house and she told her mom the "good" news. I promised to keep the address safe and walked back to the orphanage, I gave three knocks to the side door and the lady who runs the place opened it up. "I was hoping you'd stay out for another half an hour" she grumbled, as she closed the door behind her. She slipped a ten dollar bill from her pocket and handed it to me, "is it Thursday already?" I asked, she nodded. You see, Betsey and I have a special agreement. Surprise, surprise I'm quite the disaster maker, so when she has to deal with me pulse all the other annoyances in the girls' wing it adds up to a lot of work. So, she pays me 10 dollars a week to leave for a couple hours each day. I usually sneak out right after dinner, just in time to walk to Eiras house and make our loops for boy wonder, I then come back afterwards and go to bed. I know what you're thinking, and no it's not legal to pay off one of your orphanage kids to go buzz off for awhile. I got ready for bed in the bathroom, its where I changed into my old band t-shirt and some ripped up leggings for my pajamas. The real test of skill though, was sneaking into one of the five bedrooms with a dozen sleeping girls in it. How do they separate us into five different rooms you ask? Well when we first arrived we had the opinion of picking a new last name, most girls didn't because they wanted to keep their last name, or was too young to take it seriously. Unlike the suckers who wanted to keep the memories of their past parents alive, I want to drown all those thoughts. So, I picked the last name Spark, it felt right. So, they separate us by our last names. A-D, E-G, H-P, Q-W, and X-Z, simple. So, I snuck in the room and into my bed among the dozen other girls. I sat on my bed for a moment letting my thoughts wonder, "Kitten?" I jumped out of my skin at the voice, but settled in annoyment after realizing where the voice came from. To my left a small girl sat in her bed looking up at me, Riley, she is only six. I sighed, Riley came in when she was around two, I told her she could call me Alley Cat, she took that and started calling me Kitten. I mean come on! I have a reputation to uphold here people! I can't have a little girl trailing behind me calling me Kitten! "Why are you up Kitten? You should be asleep" she not so quietly whispered, "I can sleep when I want to sleep," I growled "however big pests need their rest, so leave me alone, and go to bed" I snapped, she sunk back down and closed her eyes. Mission accomplished. I laid down and got under the cool covers, my eyes fluttered shut and I drifted off into a peaceful sleep. 

 

The next morning was like any other, I awoke to the sound of synchronised alarms, ranging from heavy metal music to birds chirping nature sounds. The morning was chaos I pushed through hair brushes, lotions, and curlers just to brush my teeth. Brushing my teeth and getting dressed are the only to things I do to get ready, I almost never eat breakfast unless Betsey catches me, and my hair is so short I just let it do what it wants. I waited out front with pretty much the whole rest of the orphanage, the school bus arrived shortly after. I sit alone on the bus, I think they're all scared of me, good, that means I'll get left alone. This time was different though. I sat scrunched all the way by the window with my eyes all glossy and spaced out. I heard a soft thump next to me, I didn't even need to look to feel someone sitting next to me "Hi, I'm Roseanna, what's your name?" She asked "I'm Alley..." I mumbled questioning her actions. I could feel her eyes burning holes in the back of my head, was she waiting for me to start a conversation? Yeah, no way, she's probably new. I kept my back to her, refusing to meet her eyes, "I saw you were alone, do you have any friends on this bus?" She asked innocently, "you're new here aren't you?" I answered, not moving a muscle, "yes, and I sat here because I thought you looked lonely, but if you are going to be rude and not look at me well I'm talking to you I have every intent to move" she said sharply. I snorted, "listen sweetheart, I'm known for only one person being able to tolerate me, and that's good enough for me, so if you have a problem with my attitude you're more than welcome to leave" I said, still refusing to meet her eyes, "hmph," she snorted "I was trying to be helpful, but if you want to be lonely and miserable, be my guest, sweetheart" she spat out the last word like it left a sour taste in her mouth. I heard her stand up, and I got curious, no one has really stood up for themselves before, I turned and met her eyes. She had black very curly hair that bounced around like springs, she wore a white dress with sunflowers decorating it, and a baby pink saddle backpack with one strap hanging loosely around her shoulder. Our eyes met and I went for a vicious glare, she returned it, but she also formed a small smirk. I was surprised, but returned her hidden smile. Soon, the bus pulled up to the school, I hopped out and met Eira on the sidewalk. Luckily, we have most of the same classes, so we can walk together. School was normal boring school, but for once, Eira couldn't shut up. Tonight was the night, the night of our first training. "Did you bring the address?" She asked excitedly, "yes, of course I brought the address!" I exclaimed, I took it out of the hood of my hoodie and twirled it around my fingers. She blew it from my grasp and grabbed it off the ground. She put it in the pocket of her boot cut, flower, hippy jeans. Smart move, "Hey!" I yelped, "it's not that I don't trust you, it's that I don't trust it's not going to fall out of your hood" she explained, patting the pocket she stuffed it in, "ok" I grumbled begrudgingly.

 

After school we rushed to Eira's house, Eira's mom, Mrs.Tola, might be even more excited than Eira. Mrs. T doesn't like me, she thinks I'm a "bad influence" also probably because I call her Mrs. T. Snacks and drink were all laid out and she kept offering to walk us to the address, which we refused many times. Mr. Tola sat in a big chair with a magazine, he kinda likes me, one wrong move could tip the scale, to bad I don't care. He's not as in love with the thought of a superhero as his wife is, truthfully I think she's just dragging him around. The clock struck 4:45 and it was time to go find this secret lair. We decided to take our bikes since we didn't know exactly how long it would take to get to wherever we're going. We rode for a little while, but it was surprisingly not that far away, I don't know what I was expecting, but definitely not this. "an apartment complex?" We said in unison, I looked back down at the scribbley mess some might call handwriting, at the very bottom there are two random numbers, maybe that's the apartment number? We left our bikes at a nearby bike rack and headed for the apartment. "He probably gave us a fake address. 'Oh no! No one must find out my secret identity, or my life will fall into pieces'!" I said mockingly, I put one hand over my heart and the other on my forehead, Eira just glared at me. We got to the door and Eira started getting nervous "what if he doesn't like us, or refuses to help us, or KIDNAPS US!" She said, starting to freak out, "it's ok Eira, remember? I'm right here and I'm not going to let anything hurt you, ok?" I said soothingly, she rested her hands on her knees breathing heavily, "stressing takes a lot of unnecessary energy, save your energy for training" I said, trying to help. After a few minutes of sitting on the bench they put outside, Eira finally got it out if her head. "Now remember, you don't have to say a word, I'll do all the talking" I comforted her, well I knocked on the door. Footsteps started approaching the door, and though I'll never admit it out loud I feel a ball of fear expanding in my stomach. The knob started turning and I was shocked to see who stood before us, because it was definitely not the same guy from last night. The man stood before us had glasses and was dressed in a nice suit, and he had an overall different vibe than pretty boy from last night. He looks at us strangely, you can see the gears turning in his head. "Is there something I can help you with?" He asked, you can tell he's curious, "yes, actually," I handed him the old gum wrapper "you see, the local superhero handed this to us last night…" I was about to say why when I quickly realized he maybe didn't know or could be a threat. A quick wave of anger washed over his face, "pardon me, for one moment," he said, he half closed the door, whispering sounded from behind it, before it quickly reopened. This time the same man stood in front of the door, but this time a younger, darker, looking guy stood behind him. "You two met him in the park last night, right?" The darker man said. His voice was slow and relaxed with hardly any emotion behind it, "are both of you guys have, like…" I made a weird jester that was indicating superpowers, they both nodded, "than yes, who else would we be?" I said sarcastically, the glasses guy moved out of the way to let us in, I heard him mumbled something about yelling at Ro later. We sat awkwardly on the couch well the two guys took the chairs. "So are you going to tell us your names or what?" I asked, they gave worried glances at each other, "I'm Logan" the man with the glasses said, "and I'm Virgil" the darker man said. "Great, this is Eira and I'm Alley, Alley Cat, A.C, whatever I don't care" I said quickly and uninterested. "Also, who exactly are you two?" I quickly followed up with, they gave more nervous glances, "we're Princey's roommates" Virgil mumbled, "so where is, uh, Princey?" I demanded. Logan quickly stood up and made his way to the kitchen "he is at work, he should be arriving home shortly. Would you like anything to drink?" He asked politely. Eira shook her head slightly, "no thanks" I answered, "so, um, what do you guys do exactly?" Virgil asked, leaning back more in his chair, "I'm fire and she's ice" I said simply, nodding towards Eira. He tilted his head and looked like he was going to say something, but Logan interrupted him "so the superhero told you he would mentor you with your powers?" Logan asked skeptically, sipping his tea, "yep" I answered, wishing I wasn't in this awkward situation. Logan sighed and rubbed his forehead, he turned to Virgil and tried to whisper "Roman decided to do this without our knowledge, so they're his responsibility" he not so quietly whispered, "do you really trust nothing's going to go wrong? Plus it's two more powers you can take notes on in your journal" Virgil countered. Logan sighed and gave in, they both seemed to forget we were still their, and looked at us with surprise. "So, when is, Roman was it? Going to get here?" I asked, with a huff and tone, "soon" Virgil said sharply. After a few minutes of awkward silence, it was broken by the creaky door opening. A man who was clearly the superhero from last night came through the door in a worn out suit. "Work can go di- hiya there…" he said surprised, he studied us for a second, probably trying to remember why we looked so familiar. His eyes widened and his eyes kept going between us and the two men, "oh...I'm kinda in trouble aren't I?" He mumbled, Logan and Virgil nodded their heads in unison with almost the same expression on their faces, although there was a hint more amusement in Virgil's look. "Aye, superdude, when are we going to get to the training?" I asked, he stared at me blankly before stretching and running his hand nervously through his hair, "I, um, ok! How about today we just play a game and get to know each other?" He offered, I deeply rolled my eyes. Come on, getting to know each other? Lame, how about we, you know, train! "Fine, if that's what it will take," I grumbled, Roman turned to the others, "would you like to play with us, please?" He asked desperately, "I have some music to catch up on, sorry" Virgil scoffed. He then stood up and walked into what I think is his room, giving Roman a two fingered salute, and closing the door behind him. Logan sighed, "since Virgil refused your offer, I predict you will now force me to join you in your game" Logan guessed, sipping his tea, Roman nodded, Logan sighed again. We spent the next gut wrenching hour playing a game with questions like "what's your favorite color?" I spent the hour answering all the questions for both me and Eira, Logan got curious. "Alley, why are you answering all of Eira's questions?" He asked, "she doesn't like talking in front of strangers, it's going to be like that for pretty much the whole time we're here, so get used to it bud" I snapped, the door opened, making me jump. A man with glasses and a cardigan tied around his shoulders walked in, "hi guys! Who are your guests?" He said happily, Roman explained the situation, the man introduced himself as Patton. He seems nice, but a little too nice, how is it possible that even when he sits still, he buzzes with energy? He enthusiastically joined our game that took another excruciatingly painful half an hour. Finally, I kinda snapped, "ok! I'm done! If we have to communicate let's not talk about what our favorite colors are!" I yelled, everyone just stared at me in silence, even Eira looked at me like I was crazy, she was right. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath, "I think we should go, we'll come back Monday, same time," I said, I motioned for Eira to follow me as she stood up. "Ok...bye" Patton said quietly, Logan and Roman just stared, "bye…" Eira mumbled just loud enough for them to hear. We walked out and I felt a weird feeling of disappointment, I always have the lowest expectations ever, it's the best way to never feel bad, but this time I must have had some hope, stupid, stupid hope. I sighed and Eira looked at me "are you ok?" She asked, "I'm fine!" I snapped. I walked Eira home and went to the orphanage. I laid down in my bed staring up at the ceiling, I don't know what I was expecting, but not that, I sighed closing my eyes. I just want to know how to keep from lighting everything on fire, and how to help Eira. Oh well, at least Eira didn't get shot by a maniac, I thought, as I drifted off to sleep.


	4. Just Relax

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alley walks around the park disturbing people's peace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: this chapter has cursing and robbery. Sorry this is more of a filler chapter, but its definitely an interesting one. Enjoy!

Alley woke up to Riley poking her, it was 2 am. "Kitten, I had a nightmare, and I'm too scared to go back to sleep" Riley said with a trembling voice, Alley glared at the girl looming over her. She rolled onto her side, her back facing the little girl, but she simply ran over to the other side staring at Alley with her big doughy eyes. "Why are you bothering me? Go to Betsey" Alley grumbled, half asleep "last time I did that, she yelled at me" Riley said quietly. "Than I don't care who you go to, just not me" Alley growled sitting up, "but everyone else is asleep," she answered weakly, "I was asleep too you know! Before you came and started shoving your sharp little fingernails into my back!" Alley whisper yelled. Tracks of tears started running down Rileys face, her lips were trembling and she looked defenseless, Alley sighed. "You're not going to leave me alone are you?" She asked, Riley shook her head, Alley got up and sat on the little girls bed, patting for her to sit. Riley hobbled over and sat next to Alley, "so, uh, what happened?" She asked, tears welled up in the girls eyes again, "there was this giant monster chasing me, I ran as fast as I could, but I got too tired, so I stopped running. I hid in a toy box, the monster was calling my name and searching for me. The monster opened the toy box and grabbed me, it was about to eat me when I woke up" the girl cried, hugging her stuffed animal cat. Alley may not be good at empathy or understanding others feelings, but one thing she was good at, is creativity. Alley had a lightbulb go off in her head, "well that couldn't have been a bad dream! Bad dreams don't exist" Alley said enthusiastically, ''What?" The girl whimpered, wiping her snotty nose with the back of her hand, "you see, after the monster picked you up and was about to eat you, when you woke up, a mighty sword appeared in your hand. You slayed the beast with one slash, saving everyone in your dream land form the monster. You see, Riley? Bad dreams don't exist because they're just good dreams with the ending cut out!" Alley said smirking at her own ingenious idea. Riley became starry eyed, "yeah" she smiled "I did save everyone!" She put her arms up triumphantly. The girl climbed back under her covers and went to sleep, Alley went back to her own bed and fell asleep thinking of how the little girl would never bother her again

 

In the morning Alley had a smile on her face, it was the weekend! Sure, Alley likes the time she spends with Eira, but when she was alone, with only her thoughts to wonder her head, that's when she really feels the most at ease. She took a banana with her that she would eat at the parks small garden. She could never understand how people got bored. Her mind made up so many scenarios, stories, and fantasy lands she could get lost in them for days, even weeks! She sat on the lone bench in the peaceful garden, letting her mind run wild. She was so lost in thought she didn't realize the strange man approaching her. He looked normal enough, but as always Alley immediately tensed up upon seeing the stranger. "Hey kid, let's get this over with, give me everything you have" the gruff man said, despite being clearly older and bigger than her, the man still felt slightly intimidated by her response. She didn't move an inch, but pinched her face up like she was unimpressed "I'm a thirteen year old orphan with no job, you really expect me to have any money? You need to work on picking your targets" she scoffed, her confidence radiated from her words. Although that was a complete lie and she always carried around 10 dollars with her. The thief looked her over with a scowl and pointed to the necklace tucked in her shirt. "If you're such a smart little girl, you'd willingly hand over that necklace, before you get hurt too hurt" he snarled. Alley pulled the necklace out of her shirt revealing the charm, a black heart with gold vines crawling up and down it making patterns. She opened her locket to look at the picture inside. It was a picture of her and Eira back to back, Alley held a ball of fire between her hands, well Eira had frost creeping up her arm, and had snow flakes making a mini tornado in her hand. Alley remembered how that had happened. Eira's mom was drooling over her powers and wanted a picture, but Eira hates taking pictures alone so she pulled me into the photoshoot. Luckily, everyone her mom shows the picture to thinks it's just really good photoshop. Alley clenched the locket forcing it closed, she looked up at the man "you know what? I don't think I will" Alley said, tilting her head daringly. The man closed on her, but she wasn't worried about it. The second he grabbed her wrist, the game was on. Heat rushed through her veins and her arms started heating up. You could see his face drop and eyes get wide, it gave Alley satisfaction. He ripped his hand away, his whole hand was a burning blistering red. "WHAT THE HELL!? DID YOU JUST BURN ME!!??" He screeched. Alley than did something she only does in front of terrible people like this, Eira hasn't even seen it. She closed her eyes and forced the heat up to her head, when she opened her eyes they where a deep, dark, bloody red. "HOLY SHIT! DEMON! DEMON!" He screamed. He ran as fast as the Flash out of their, Alley returned to normal temperature and her eyes back to the normal caramel brown color. "Well, he makes ten, oh wait, I forgot about that one chick, oh yeah, she was a horror" She grumbled, counting all the enemy's she's taken down. She finished her banana and took a walk around the block. Alley was walking by the picnic tables when she did a double take, there she was, Roseanna. She sat reading a book, her hair tied back in a loose ponytail. Alley walked up to her tapping her book. Roseanna looked up and groaned "what do you want?" She asked, Alley plastered on a too big smile "to bother you" Roseanna rolled her eyes and continued to read. Alley plopped herself next to her and began to whistle a tune, the reading girl slammed her book shut and stood up "ah! You are completely and utterly insufferable! You know that?" She yelled. "Yep" Alley winked and clicked her tongue. Roseanna stomped off clutching her book. Alley ruffled her hair and continued with her walk. She made her loops and ran into a lady with a large backpack, spilling the bags contents. Alley reached down to help the woman's things up "no!" The woman snapped, Alley jumped a step back. The woman laughed, "I'm sorry dear, but there's some very important papers in here" Alley helped the woman up, she was very short, not that much bigger than herself. "I'm sorry, I'm Alley by the way" she shrugged, "you can call me Maggie dear" the cheery women laughed, "I should be the one apologizing. I was in such a rush to get to my meeting, I wasn't watching where I was going" trying to strike a conversation with Maggie, Alley asked her a question "oh where's your meeting?" Alley asked, trying to look interested. "Oh, um, it's at the old warehouse" Maggie said stumbling with her words, she looked down at her watch and panic washed over her "I'm sorry dearie, I have to go nice meeting you!" Alley didn't get a word in before the woman started running off. Him interesting, She thought, what a strange woman.


	5. No Time To Play

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Time to see what joys happen at training this time!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I just realized I switched from Alley's POV to 3 person POV, I apologize for the mix up, but I will be keeping it 3 person for the stories sake, enjoy!

After a boring weekend it was back to school. But school isn't what Alley was nervous about, it was training with Roman. Alley coated through the day, it seemed like minutes after she woke up that she was walking to the men's apartment with Eira. We walked up to the door and I knocked. This time Roman answered the door "ok, I know Friday was a bit of a flop, but today I've got a plan!" He said, he acted like he was giving us a sales pitch. We walked inside to find Patton had filled up every container in the house with water. Just in case I had a miss fire with my fire power I guess. Roman sat us down on the couch and stated his magnificent plan, "so, first Logan is going to ask you questions about your powers, so he can make guesses in his little journal" Logan glared daggers into Roman "than your gonna come over here and I'll test your limits " he smiled wide and proud like it took him all weekend to come up with that, Alley wouldn't be surprised if it had. Roman was slightly disappointed by and bored and uninterested look of Alley, and the pure look of fear from Eira. Roman thought back to the conversation he had last night with the others about the two girls. 

 

____________________________________________________

~Flashback~

 

Roman and the others had just finished a delightful meal prepared by Patton, and were than sitting on the couch talking when the topic of the strange girls came up. "Alley's outburst was unruly, as well as her sudden absences" Logan declared, "hey, she could've just been having a bad day Lo. Or maybe the game was a little too much for her, and she couldn't take it anymore. Both make sense" Patton offered, "so I take it your "training" session went just splendidly" Virgil said sarcastically, "hey! I simply forgot they were coming and had to think on the fly!" Roman defended himself, as he flailed his arms around. "What about the second one, Eira was it?" Logan asked, "she seemed very shy" Patton added. Virgil snorted, and all eyes turned to him, he would never be able to swallow the lump in his throat when he had all the attention, no matter how comfortable he got. He stumbled around with his words for a second before finally finding the right ones, "that's a classic case of high social anxiety. She kept fidgeting with her hands, she stared at the ground the whole time, her friend kept glancing at her to make sure she was ok, as well as speak for her. Everything points to high social anxiety, and an overprotective friend. Even from my room I could hear Alley snap at Logan for questioning her." Virgil explained, "hmm, I suppose I shall concede. Alleys motives could have quite possibly been purely to conserve her friend, perhaps trying to prevent an anxiety attack."  Logan observed (I can't Logan words btw) "see!" Patton grinned "everyone has a reason for their actions! Even if their actions may not be the right ones!" Patton yawned and rubbed his eyes, "I'm gonna hit the hay, goodnight guys" Patton said drowsily, getting up from his comfortable spot and making his way into his room. Everyone mumbled goodnight, and Logan, after a while, dispersed into his own room, leaving Roman and Virgil to talk. "So I guess you have some brilliant plan to train the girls tomorrow, ay Princey?" Virgil said, resting his chin on his hand, Roman's eyes got wide, "they're coming tomorrow?" He whisper yelled, trying not to wake the two sleeping men. Virgil held in a laugh and nodded his head as Roman frantically started spurning out last minute ideas.

 

______________________________________________________  

~End Of Flashback~

 

So, Alley made her way reluctantly over to Logan for his note taking. "So, can you give me a detailed list of all of both yours and Eiras powers, Alley?" Logan asked, clicking open a pen, Alley rolled her eyes "Eira can make frost appear on her skin, she can turn things frozen with only a touch or breath, and she can create mini snowstorms in the palm of her hand, oh, she can also just form balls of ice" Alley spoke quickly trying to catch the man off guard, but Logan wrote fast and efficiently being able to easily keep up with the girl's often sharp tongue. "Than I can, mold fire, set things on fire, am immune to burns, can set my whole body on fire, and make fire balls." I explained, Logan met the girl's eyes, "is there anything else I should know? Any side effects?" He asked. Alley bit the inside of her cheek, she knew it was a bad habit, evident of the occasional taste of blood in her mouth. Alley didn't want to tell him about her and Eira's separation issue, but then again, that piece of information could help them overcome it. Alley sighed making her final decision "yes. Me and Eira have opposite powers, so we can't get within 5 feet of each other without suffering side effects" Alley said begrudgingly. The only thing she left out were her eyes, that is her secret that only she knows about. Sometimes when she gets too sad, or scared, or angry her eyes turn red until she calms down. Alley thinks it happens if any of her emotions hit an all time high, but she's simply never been happy enough to test it with more positive feelings. 

 

Logan looked curiously at Eira exactly 5 feet behind Alley as he wrote down his, or rather the girls, observations. Logan then shooed them away to the other side of the room where Roman and his assistant Patton waited. "Ok, Alley you're going to go first. We've placed an oven thermometer in the oven, and you're going to shoot fire into the oven as hot as you can go" Roman said, "Patton will be ready with a bucket of water if it goes bad" Alley glared at the oven "I've never shot fire before, I've only ever made myself go up in flames" she complained. Roman started panicking behind his calm mask of chill. Patton stepped in "ok kiddo" Patton started "what did you just call me?" Alley asked defensively, grinding her teeth together "oh um, sorry, A.C" Patton continued, pulling a box of matches out of a drawer. Patton was slightly embarrassed from calling Alley kiddo. Habit, he assumed. Patton grabbed a match and set it on the outer rim of  the sink "ok, round two!" Patton said cheerfully "if you could stand back a little than try to set the match on fire we can test out your skills!" Patton gleamed with pride. Alley was immediately more driven to go along with Mr. Sunshine's plan than the Prep's, she didn't know why though. Alley took a few steps back, Eira stood as close as she could behind, Patton was off to the side with a bucket of water ready. Alley took in a deep breath and brought her right hand up to her left shoulder. She then made a quick slicing down motion to her right hip. Through doing this, a teeny-tiny spark flew across the kitchen, it wouldn't be enough to light the match even if it did touch it. Instead, the flame flew all the way over to a bowl full of fruit, and quickly sizzled out. Alley furrowed her brow, then tried again, and again, and again. Soon, Alley was annoyed she kept missing, and even Patton looked bored. When the opportunity presented itself Roman quickly explained what Eira was going to do for her section of the training before Alley could continue shooting anymore.

 

"Ok we're going to hand you an object and time how long it takes for you to completely cover the item in frost." He said, holding out an apple for her to take. Eira froze, she didn't want to touch his hand or take anything from him, she might mess it all up, and make it super awkward. Everyone stared at her staring at the apple, oh no, she thought, by trying to not make it awkward I've managed to make it even more awkward, what if he tries to toss it to me, I can't catch I'll drop it, then they'll all laugh at me! Her anxious thoughts ran through her head Alley ran up, and snatched the apple from Roman gently underhand tossing it over to Eira with a playful bow after she successfully caught it. Roman and Patton looked at each other weirdly before getting back down to business, Roman held a stopwatch in his hand, his thumb lingering over the start button. "Three, two, one, go!" Patton announced, Roman clicked the start button and Eira started frosting over the apple. In a few seconds the apple was completely covered in ice cold frost, stem and all. "Stop!" Patton yelled, frightening Logan on the other side of the room. Roman hit the stop button and slowly nodded his head "7 seconds, not to bad newbie" Roman praised, Eira's cheeks, as it does anytime anyone says something remotely nice about her, was dusted with a rosy pink blush. After testing out a few more objects and timing her, Prep called Necktie over, as Alley likes to call them, to calculate Eira's average time. It took seconds for Logan to give them her final score "8.26 seconds" Logan concluded, satisfied with his math knowledge. 

 

By that time, the girls were ready for their departure. Alley gave them a peace sign and Eira mumbled a small "bye" as they walked back to Eira's house. Alley started feeling down as they walked, I thought I could do so much better, she thought, now I just feel like a failure. I want to protect Eira from all the jerks that live in this miserable world, but how am I supposed to do that when I have to have them within touching distance of them? What if they went for Eira before me?, thoughts rushed through her mind. Alley became sad, she always wanted to protect Eira since she can't do it herself, and because she is her only and best friend she has ever had, but what if she couldn't? What if she couldn't keep her safe? Alley made a deep rooted decision right then and there that would help decide the outcome of her own fate, I'm going to train until my hands bleed, learn until my head explodes, and most important of all I'm going to find how to protect Eira.


	6. Playing Hero

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Alley is finally being a good human being

I woke up as usual, waited for the bus as usual, and walked with Eira to class, as usual. All that means to Alley though, is that reality is going to give her a big smack in the face real soon. And that smack in the face, was Coby Halls and Oakley Sail. Oakley Sail was the mediocre bully of the school, and today's target seemed to be Coby Halls. Oakley straddled Coby holding him down with one hand and punching with the other. Coby had blood and tears streaming down his face. He was trying to wiggle out of the bullies grasp, but Oakley was too strong. Alley remembered the one encounter she had with Coby. She was newly orphaned and it was a few months into 1st grade. Alley was a clumsy child and dropped all her things to the floor, Coby helped her pick everything up. He seemed like a nice kid, always smiling at everyone he met. Although Alley very rarely did this, she was going to try and step in.

 

She started pushing through the gathering of kids watching the one sided fight, but someone beat her to it, Roseanna. Roseanna took a much more peaceful approach than what Alley would have done. She tapped him on the shoulder and pulled him up to a standing position, "what do you think your doing?" She demanded, standing between the bully and the boy. Alley quickly swooped in, "you don't need to prove your strength by hurting innocent people" Alley preached. The wounded boy whimpered in pain behind them, the girls eyes met and they made a plan without a single spoken word. Roseanna moved behind Alley and started helping the injured boy, Alley closed in on Oakley "you're lucky you're a chick or I'd kick you to the moon" Oakley spat, "same, I don't hit girls" Alley growled. Coby put one arm around Roseanna's shoulders to help him balance, and they wobbled away to the nurse's office. Alley let her guard down and simply walked away. Coby and Roseanna were both gone and safe, so no need to continue pointless intimidation with Oakley. "Hey! Where are you going little girl? Scared?" Oakley called out as Alley walked away, but she didn't look back. After all, people have called her much worse.

 

Lunch was always just Alley and Eira quietly talking, and Alley glaring at anyone who even looked at their table. This time though, they were joined by Roseanna and Coby. Alley was hesitant at first, especially because of Eira's high social anxiety. When they first sat down Alley imedility turned to Eira asking if it's ok, Eira smiled slightly and nodded. Eira felt bad for Alley she was always holding her back. Eira felt like she was always getting in the way, always having to be the baby Alley had to protect. Maybe Eira wanted to learn how to protect herself? Maybe she was tired of being the baby.

 

__________________________________________

~Back At The Apartment~

 

Patton just got home from work, it had been a successful day of arts and crafts with the children, but he was growing concerned with another slightly older teen. Patton found Virgil on the couch with his headphones on listening to music. Perfect, Patton thought, just who I wanted to talk to, Patton plopped himself next to Virgil trying to get his attention. Once he understood, Virgil wrapped his headphones around his neck and focused on a nervous Patton. "Hey kiddo, I wanted to talk to you about Eira" Patton explained "I'm worried that her social anxiety will get in the way of her training" Patton played with the cardigan tied around his shoulders, "I mean, that is something to worry about," Virgil said, shrugging, "how can I get her to trust us? Or at least me?" Patton asked longingly, Virgil waited for a minute choosing his next words carefully "well, everyone's different, but you could try to just be yourself and goof around with her. It will give her the opportunity to be herself, but that would require lots of time with her one on one. Meaning no Alley" Virgil offered, Patton nodded, "That's a good idea! we need her to be able to at least talk to us before we can train her more" Patton said cheerfully. He started drawing out a plan, but, oh boy, Alley will not like it.

 

____________________________________

~Back At School~

 

Even if Eira wasn't exactly in the conversation she seemed to be much more comfortable with Roseanna and Coby than most others. She sat up straight, smiled, and nodded or shook her head when asked a yes or no question. Coby held a tissue to his bloody nose and had bandages covering his face. When asked why he didn't just go home he said this "I've had perfect attendance all year long and I'm not about to mess it up now!" He declared, Alley rolled her eyes. Roseanna turned to Alley smiling "so I guess somewhere in that deep dark soul of yours is a heart" Roseanna laughed, "unfortunately" Alley groaned, which just made Roseanna laugh even more. Soon it was the end of the day and the two girls were walking down to Eira's house. When they got inside they saw a note left on the table:

 

We left for a business meeting, there's snacks in the fridge

 

-Mrs. Tola

 

"Alley?" Eira asked, trying to get her friends attention, "listening" she replied sticking her head in the fridge for snacks. "I think you should tell them why we want training, you want to help me when I'm having an attack, so we should be focusing on that not all the other perks" Eira said, receiving a Go Gurt from Alley. Eira could tell Alley was biting her cheek again. She's known Alley for so long she can tell. "And stop biting your cheek it's bad for you!" Eira scolded, Alley stopped "sorry nervous habit" she said bashfully. Eira had a thought, her mom and dad used to buy her all different kinds of fidget toys to help with her anxiety, none of them ever work though. Eira said she would be right back and went upstairs to her bedroom. She pulled out a whole basket full of the fidget toys and picked one out she thought Alley would like. Eira came bounding down the stairs and presented it to Alley "whenever you feel the need to bite your cheek or catch yourself in the act just play around with whatever this thing is!" Eira said proudly. Alley took it and inspected it, it was a small mesh tube with a single marble inside of it. "Ok" Alley said giving in, she stuffed it in her pocket and already felt the need to send the marble back and forth in the tiny mesh tube. So, the girls started their voyage to the men's apartment, unknowing of what they had waiting for them.


	7. Hidden Tears

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> It gets Life Is Strange up in here.

"No. No, no, no. No, no, no, no, no" Alley almost laughed, "there is NO way you're going to do that" Alley growled. Roman got down so he could meet her eyes, he spoke in a voice so quietly only Alley could hear, "One day, both you and Eira are going to grow up, and you'll get more independent. Eira won't always want to cling to your arm and you won't always want her to. I know you want to protect her, but she needs to learn how to protect herself too. To learn how to protect herself she needs training, and for us to train her she needs to be comfortable around us" Roman calmly explained, Alley crossed her arms and scowled. Alley started biting her cheek, but stopped, and instead reached into her pocket for the marble fidget toy. Alley wanted so desperately to say no. What if Eira had attack? What if Patton hurt her? Alley had to come to terms with the facts. Roman was right. Eira will become independent, and Alley needs to know she can take care of herself. "Fine, but if anything happens to her I will shove my foot so far up your ass you'll be picking toenails out of your teeth for the rest of your miserable life" Alley growled. Roman stood their absolutely shocked, his mouth hung open like a fish. He was concerned for the sanity of the small girl, but at the same time he was impressed by the creativity of her unsettling threat. Alley turned to Eira, "are you sure you're ok with this?" She asked, almost begging for her to say no. Eira nodded she was tired of being the baby, and if she was going to suffer with this social anxiety, she was going to do everything in her power to get over it for the people who want to help her. The plan was for Patton and Eira to stay in the apartment together well Alley, Roman, and Logan go elsewhere to train. "So where are we going?" Alley asked, Roman looked at Logan "I don't know why you would expect me to know where we're going" Logan observed, Alley groaned putting her hand on her hip "let's skip all the chit chat and just go to the junkyard" Alley sighed. "That seems adequate" Logan agreed, Roman nodded his head and they left the apartment. 

 

Patton planned out some ideas to get to know the girl, "ok! So we're going to play two truths and a lie. Is that ok with you?" Patton asked, Eira nodded, she fiddled with her hands. "Ok, I'll go first. I can duplicate myself, I can feel how other people are feeling when around them, and I can fly. Which do you think is the lie?" Patton asked smiling and bouncing slightly. Eira, not wanting to speak, held up a "two" with her fingers. Patton got excited not because he tricked her, but because this is the perfect opportunity to do something he talked to Virgil about. "Not quite! Good guess though!" Patton exclaimed, Virgil had told him a big part of social anxiety is the fear of messing up or getting something wrong. Patton wanted to make sure Eira felt like she could mess up and not be made fun of, after all he does it himself all the time! Eira held a perplexing look on her face before cautiously raising a "three" with her fingers. Patton nodded his head wildly "yep! You got it right! Flying would be so fun though! Imagine! Soaring through the sky, not a single soul to distract you! But, I suppose it would get lonely up their all alone. Ok, your turn now!" Patton smiled wide and leaned in closer so he could hear her "ok, um, I-I have frost breath, I, uh, can in case things in ice cubes, and I can make myself almost as cold as dry ice without feeling a thing" Eira whispered quietly, Patton tapped his temple talking to himself "well, the last one is way too cool to not be true. The first one seems likely. Ok! The second one!" Patton announced, Eira nodded her head she smiled slightly. Eira had never met a man so lively she so very much wanted to have a conversation with him, but the little voice in her head told her she was going to mess it up, and they will all hate her forever. "can you tell me about your parents?" Patton asked, he never told any of the others, but the girls had never mentioned having permission from their parents to come here, and Patton didn't want their parents to worry. "They are either too overprotective or don't seem to care at all" Eira muttered "but don't get me wrong they're wonderful" she looked down, "what about A.C's parents?" Patton asked unknowingly, "oh, uh, Alley doesn't have parents. She's an orphan…" Eira mumbled, "oh no, that's terrible" Patton said quietly. He didn't even cross his mind that one of the girls didn't have parents, good thing I didn't ask that to A.C, Patton thought, oh! She would have been so upset! Patton felt bad for asking, he just wanted to make sure the parents knew where their kids were. 

 

They continued talking about many subjects, Eira even seemed to get to a place where she wasn't mumbled or seemed worried. Patton finally felt a sense of security coming from her, he himself must have been feeling her emotions without thinking. He realized he had been tensed up this whole time, and that he could finally relax. Patton and Eira were in a deep discussion about their favorite dog breeds when Logan, Roman, and Alley returned from the junkyard. Eira couldn't read Alley's expression, it was almost always the same, her eyebrows scrunched down in a permanent scowl, her mouth in a place of annoyment, and her eyes as sharp as daggers. The girls walked out saying "goodbye" to the men, "so how'd it go?" Eira asked, Alley sighed "let me set the scene for you"

 

____________________________________________________________

~At The Junkyard~

 

It looked like exactly how'd you expect. Run down rusty cars, random sheet metal, broken beer bottles, old signs with the paint fading or peeling off. It has a weird effect doesn't it? Alley thought, A sense of calm, yet you're surrounded by old rust. Each and everything here has a story to tell, someone who once loved it, but now...its just wasting away in a dump. Alley's thoughts were quickly interrupted by Logan "well this looks like a breeding ground for tetanus" Logan observed, he walked around every little thing making sure not to touch anything. Roman however, was sliding across old car hoods and climbing up to the top of whatever was tallest in his view. 

 

Alley reached down and brushed dust off an old abandoned ukulele. She remembered when she was around five, whenever she couldn't go to sleep her dad would strum his ukulele well her mom sang her a lullaby. She would sometimes stay up on purpose just to hear her mother's sweet voice through the chirping crickets outside. Her father eventually taught her to play at the age of six all through dumping her at the orphanage. She could never seem to sing like her mother, but she could she play the sweetest songs that could just melt your heart. Every song she played anyone who listened would experience tears streaming down their cheeks for no particular reason. Alley never wanted to play, at that time she couldn't stand to see anyone cry. Her mother had taken her chin and looked her in the eyes "when people cry from your songs, Kitten, they're not crying because they're sad. They're crying because...sometimes older kids keep their tears hidden, and your music lets them get all of those tears out. Do you understand my dear?" She had explained, her mother always called adults "older kids" claiming that's really what they were. Alley had nodded, not really understanding, but of course understanding that one day she will. Alley felt tears welling up in her eyes, she violently shifted her memories to abandonment and loss, her hatred for her parents grew even stronger. She quickly got rid of her tears and examined the old uke. 

 

Alley cracked a light smile, instead of a shoulder strap this person had used a blue shoelace, rough time, huh, buddy? Alley thought. She was snapped back to reality by a hand touching her shoulder, she immediately swung around and slapped the person's forearm. Roman put his hands up "woah, woah, woah there! No need for violence" he said, "if you ever lay a finger on me again I will pull out your teeth one by one, and fill your stomach with cement" Alley threatened holding her pointer finger up to his face. Roman took a step back letting Alley lead down the small path. Huh, Roman thought, never knew Alley played ukulele, and in fact, strung across the girls back was a beat up ukulele. 

 

"Ok Alley, since Roman did a less than ideal job last time. I will be teaching you how to aim your fire" Logan said, he paced behind Alley, once in while telling her to fire at a piece of sheet metal, or their target for the day. "Your aiming technique is entirely ineffective. Try this" Logan held his hand up and raised up a broken bottle with his telekinesis. Alley raised her hand and tried to shoot a ball of fire at the target. Unfortunately, all that came out was a giant puff of smoke that made everyone go into a coughing fit. Once the smile cleared up, Roman started talking "why don't you just do whatever feels natural" Roman suggested, he demonstrated with his one fingered blast of electricity. Alley took in a deep breath she closed her eyes, and held up her hand in a claw position than swiftly straightened her fingers and threw out her arm. A huge blast of fire knocked her onto her back, the ball of fire had been 10 times bigger than a basketball. Roman and Logan had ducked for cover and where now regaining their focus, Alley sat up, and stared at the sheet metal that had once been her target. It was melting! Smoke rose from the metal as it slowly melted to a liquid. Alley smirked "sick" she murmured, crossing her arms over her chest. "Ok" Logan said out of breath "I think we finally got it"

 

________________________________________________

~Present Time~

 

Of course Alley had skipped over the part with the uke. Alley had the instrument strung across her back like a bow and arrow. She had already seceded in returning Eira home, and was now heading to the orphanage. As soon as she stepped through the bedroom door, "hi kitten" Riley whispered sitting up in her bed. After the memories at the junkyard Alley couldn't stand hearing that name, "why won't you just leave me alone! I don't like you and I never will! You're just a thorn in my side!" Alley hissed, as to not wake the others, "but…" the girl started, "know wonder your parents dumped you here!" Alley said harshly balling up her fists. Alley immediately realized what she had said, but...she didn't care.  She didn't care if the girl screamed and cried, she didn't care If she hurt her feelings. All she cared about was that she would never have to hear that name again.


	8. Truth Hurts

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: cussing and contemplating of life decisions

Alley woke up in a bad mood. She felt more rebellious than normal, she wanted to punch, throw, or kick something. Alley was trying to force her way to her toothbrush, but she kept getting shoved back. By the time she was able to brush her teeth, get dressed, and run outside, she missed the bus. Alley sighed, pulled out her earbuds and her phone for music well she started her five-mile walk to the school. She started walking keeping her head down and slightly bobbed it to the music. About a mile in car horn honked causing Alley to look up, the car pulled over by Alley and Eira hopped out. "I'm not going to let you walk all the way to school now am I?" Eira said opening the door for her, Alley hopped in the backseat next to Eira for a long silent ride. 

 

Alley could already tell it was going to be one of those days. She got to school and waited with Eira for the doors to open, Roseanna and Coby joined them. Alley was still wary about them. She had so many "what if's" rolling around in her head. Alley saw Roseanna was carrying the same book she had been reading in the park. "So you like reading?" Alley asked, Roseanna looked down at the book she held "not really, but this one is good so far," she responded, "what book? And if you don't like reading why are you?" Alley questioned. Roseanna just sighed, "It's How To Kill A Mockingbird, by Harper Lee" Roseanna said, "wow, isn't that book a little...adult?" Alley asked. Roseanna sighed once again, "my parents are obsessed with me reading every single book on this stupid list of theirs, I've gotten a headstart and am reading the highschool level books" she explained, "sorry, that must suck" Alley mumbled in response. Roseanna looked up from the ground and flashed a small smile. The doors opened and class began, Alley had mouthed off to one of her teachers and was sent to talk to her counselor, Mr. Picani, or as he likes to be called, Dr. Picani. He tried to talk to her as usual, but eventually gave up and sent her back to class. Alley thought Coby was a pretty cool kid, but he definitely had some issues. He suffered from a classic case of delicate masculinity, so he was SUPER embarrassed about the fight with Oakly, and the fact that two girls saved him. Alley and Roseanna learned to just rolled their eyes at his stupid comments. 

 

Throughout the day Alley managed to step on gum, trip and eat sidewalk, choke on a grape, get stung by a bee, and get seated next to little miss princess, Reda Flick, in Language Arts. As the day wore on so did her mood, she was about to punch any kid who dared look at her. Eira tried to talk to her a few times on the way to her house, but Alley always cut her off with a "nope" or a "not in the mood" that shut her up. They walked down the sidewalk side by side, Alley always walked outside closest to the road, as Eira always walked on the inside safe from harm. "Alley, I want to help you, but you keep pushing me away" Eira said quietly, "I'm fine, Eira, just be quiet well I think" Alley replied. Alley wasn't thinking of anything though, on any other day her very vivid imagination would be running wild, but not today, not when she needed a distraction. They got to Eiras house and ate before heading back out to what they call "the secret lair". They arrived and this time Virgil was sitting on the couch "ok, since Eira didn't train yesterday and we don't want to set our apartment on fire again, Eira will be doing all the training today" Roman explained, Alley nodded, but then looked up wide eyed, "what do you mean again?!" Alley asked, "long story" Patton quickly brushed it off. 

 

Patton held a bowl and offered for Eira to grab it. Eira looked at the smiling man, he nodded slightly. She took one shaky hand and grabbed the bowl from Patton. Everyone let out a breath of relief, Patton had to bite his bottom lip to stop himself from jumping up and down, and squeaking of excitement. It wasn't much, but it was meant alot to Patton. Eira was handed more objects, but eventually everyone just got really bored. "Ok!" Roman clapped his hands "we're going to have you try to ice blast us" Roman grabbed Patton's forearm and moved him closer. "Wait, what?" Patton asked, "ditto" Alley chimed in, "well if Elsa can do it what not Eira?" Roman questioned, "Elsa also built a whole ice castle, why not try that next" Virgil joked from the couch. Patton looked worryingly at Roman "maybe we should start smaller. Like to see if she can freeze water" Patton suggested, "fiiinne" Roman groaned. Alley held a container of water and Eira dipped her fingertips. A thin layer of ice formed around the top and it thickened until there was only ice. Alley got bored very quickly, and she was feeling rebellious. She grabbed a cup of water "Eira heads up!" Alley yelled. Alley threw the water towards Eria, and she instinctively put her hand out to shield herself. Eira was surprised when no water hit her, but even more surprised when a shattering sound hit the floor. Tiny pieces of ice were scattered across the floor. Eira had turned the water to ice before it hit her, it than broke upon hitting the floor.

 

"Wow I didn't think that would actually work" Alley admitted, "she's not Elsa...she's Frozone!" Roman said in excitement, Virgil rolled his eyes from the couch, and Logan started asking her to do it again to see what she shot out of her hand. Eira started stumbling back and forth bobbing her head and slowly blinking. She started leaning back, than further, and further, and further, than she collapsed on to her back. The back of Eira's head met the floor and her eyes immediately flickered shut. Everyone stood their in shock for a moment before Alley jumped into action "holy shit. I'm such a fucking idiot! Patton, help her up!" Alley yelled. Eiras eyes were shut for less than 5 seconds, but it was more than enough time for anyone in the room. Patton quickly rushed to her side sliding down onto his knees. Eira looked dazed, confused, and petrified. Patton gently helped her sit up supporting her back "Are you ok?"Patton asked soothingly, Eira nodded. They sat on the ground for a few minutes letting her breathing slow, than Patton helped her up to standing position, "are you ok?" Alley asked gently, Eira smiled renensurealy. Alley didn't trust Patton, but she did trust him slightly more than the others, so as long as she can't help Eira Patton would be her second choice. "What happened?" Logan asked, Alley looked to the ground. It was her fault she didn't remember what happened when they overuse their powers, her fault Eira fainted. "When we use our powers too much or do to big of a thing, we get really exhausted and pass out" Alley explained, "how intriguing. It is most likely due to your age or size. However it's most feasible that once you mature to a certain age or reach your full physical growth, those symptoms of exhaustion will fade away" Logan concluded. 

 

With Patton's arm for support Eira was able to stand back up "Thank you" Eira said, her voice shaking, Patton just smiled. They all sat down and Roman immediately took this opportunity to promote his play "this weekend at the community center there's a play I'll be in called The Winter's Tale you should come! We desperately need the ticket sales" Roman pleaded "w-who are you going to be?" Eira mumbled, "huh?" Roman asked, "she said, who are you going to be!" Alley yelled. "Well Leontes of course, although I would have preferred Florizel" Roman gloated. Eira nodded, and Alley rolled her eyes, what a stereotypical theater prep, Alley thought. It was time to go and Alley did her normal "bye guys" out the door, but this time she was stopped. "If you are going to refer to us you can call us by our names" Logan interrupted, not looking up from his journal. Alley immediately whipped around placing her hand on her hip, glaring. Alley was still feeling like a rebel and this was absolutely infuriating to her "fine" she snarled moving her finger between each of the men "see you tomorrow Smartass, Theater Prep, Emotional Emo, and Mr. Way-Too-Annoyingly-cheery"  Alley stood there waiting for their reactions. It was silent for a while before the last man she expected grabbed her wrist and pulled her out the door, leaving Eira inside.

 

"Listen up" Virgil growled, he closed the door behind them and let go of her wrist "they are doing you a favor. You have no right to treat them like that, and you've been giving them so much crap for absolutely nothing since you got here. You should be grateful because they didn't have to do this. You've been rude and giving them so much attitude ever since you got here. I can't imagine what kind of things you say to the people who care for you. If you keep this whole thing up I will not hesitate to throw you and your friend out." Virgil growled. Alley felt tears gaining in her eyes, she didn't say anything, she didn't try to fight back, because...he was right. She had been a bully to everyone, and for what? Why was she so angry all the time? Why could she never feel any emotions like she used to when people would cry listening to her songs? She didn't feel tears forming in her eyes because he was yelling at her, she felt tears forming in her eyes because he was absolutely right, and it hit her like a bulldozer. She had hurt so many people that didn't deserve it, said so much to the people she cared for, and who cared for her. why, why, why was she doing this? She felt heat starting to climb to her eyes, she started stumbling backwards. She tried fighting the heat, but her eyes started flickering red, and fighting it was starting to give her a headache. Virgil's expression turned from mad, to sympathetic, to confused. That's when Alley turned around and started to run, she didn't know where, but she had a mission. I'm going to make up for everyone I've ever hurt. I'm going to take a page from Roman's book.


	9. Trouble

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Warning: guns and robbery

Alley ran until she collapsed. The sounds of her name being called as she ran echoed through her mind. No matter what she did, she could not get her eyes to turn back, so she pulled out her emergency sunglasses she kept just in case, and put them on. She pulled out her phone and found a dollar store a few blocks away. The perfect place to get a cheap costume. She walked until she saw the fluorescent lights of the dollar store shining in the early night. When she got in the only other person there was an old man working a cash register. Alley walked around the store and picked up the various strange items she found. In total she got face paint, hair gel, a hooded costume cape, and a long sleeved dark grey shirt. She got checked out and ducked into a deserted public bathroom to change. She draped the cape over her shoulders, due to her small size it almost touched the ground, took the black from the face paint and painted a mask on her face along with slicking her hair back. So how does Roman do this, she thought, she decided to wander over to the worse side of town maybe some crime over their. What surprised her the most was that her eyes were still that bloody red color, normally after they were turned red out of sadness they would turn back relatively fast. She wandered around the more dangerous neighborhood feeling invincible despite her broken state.

 

She came across two children playing hopscotch on the sidewalk, she immediately became on edge. Were they a lure? Or were they just two kids who forgot their bedtime. "Hello?" Alley said as gently as she could, the two kids stopped and looked up at her frightened, "it's ok, I don't want to hurt you, it's quite late why are you still out?" Alley asked walking towards them slowly, they both looked petrified, "I'm, um, Burmilla, Prince Charging's apprentice. It's not safe out here this late you should go inside" Alley offered deciding to stay a good distance away, "y-your eyes" one of the children whimpered, Alley put her hands up "it's ok they're just contacts. Can you please tell me why you're out here?" Alley asked again. "Our m-mother will make us clean our rooms if we go home" the other kid stuttered. Alley made a confused face "it's really dangerous out here, your mother is probably really scared right now. Is not having to clean your rooms worth getting hurt?" Alley asked, they both shook their heads, "good, now please return home to your mother" Alley spoke. The children looked around, "we're really far away..." they whimpered, "would you like me to walk you home?" Alley offered, they both nodded. Alley walked with them reassuring that nothing was going to pop out, at one point she held each of the kids hands so they weren't as scared. They came to a house and knocked on the door, a woman opened the door. She looked exhausted and stressed out, but her face lit up when she saw her kids. They both jumped into her arms into a big hug, "who are you?" The mother asked, "I'm, um, Burmilla, Prince Charging's apprentice. Nice to meet you mam" Alley said offering her hand for a shake, "thank you so much! I was worried sick about them is their anything you need? A water, a snack, a place to rest?" She asked holding her kids close. Alley shook her head "no thank you I should be getting on my way. Your kids are really brave" Alley said waving goodbye. 

 

Is this how Roman feels when he's doing good deeds? What is it pride, happiness, a sense of good? Whatever it was, it was a warm and bubbly feeling. Alley did a few more loops and found nothing, her eyes were still red, but it was less intense. Her phone had been ringing off the hook from Eira and a few numbers she didn't recognize who she assumed was the super squad. She made her way down to a small street filled with local family owned shops, but something wasn't right. The door to a small Mexican food place was creaked open, and small columns of light were shining through the glass windows. Alley went to investigate, she peeked around the corner and saw two men and a woman dressed in all black shoveling money into bags. Alley tried to creep through the door, but she forgot they put a bell on it, well the element of surprise is out the window, she thought. Their heads snapped towards her, first it was a look of terror which was quickly drowned away by pity. "Who are you?" The woman asked, "I'm Burmilla, and I'm going to stop you" Alley said confidently, they laughed. "You're just a little girl playing dress up, leave, well the offer is still on the table," one of the men snarled, Alley took a step forward, "you don't want to get hurt now do you missy?" The other man growled, she took another step forward "you're one stupid little girl" the women spat. With that Alley went running towards the blonde man, her hands only starting to warm up. When the man reached out to grab her wrist Alley jumped up and used her other arm to plant a very hot hand right on the man's cheek. He screamed and ran for the water fosit in the back room. Alley than went for the second man, he tried to do the same thing. She grabbed his wrist until he ran to the fosit the first man ran to. Alley closed the kitchen door and locked it with a chair and broom. 

 

Alley had completely forgotten about the women "what the hell? Freak! Monster!" The woman yelled, "I think the word you're searching for is superhero" Alley scoffed. The women reached into the bag she was carrying and pulled out a gun. Alleys eyes widened, the women shot the first bullet it barely missed her as it whizzed past Alleys ear. The sudden noise left her ears ringing and her vision splotchy, she dropped to the ground in a confused daze. Alley heard the women's footsteps come closer until she was in view, "you should have left when you had the chance freak" the woman spat. At this point Alley had wholeheartedly accepted death, she squeezed her eyes shut bracing herself for the pain that would follow. She heard the familiar pop of the gunshot, but she felt nothing. She opened her eyes and saw another figure standing in front of her taking the bullets. Once her vision cleared she could see it was Roman who had saved her. He had made some kind of force field of electricity that had countered the bullets. He shot a bolt from his finger sending the women to the ground, and placing the gun she once held safely on the counter. Roman turned and said something to Alley, but her hearing was still messed up by the bullet whizzing by her ear. He held a hand out and lifted Alley from her back, Alleys hearing finally turned back in, in the middle of his sentence, "...you thinking! You could've been killed! Why did you run off?!" Roman lectured, "I-I'm sorry" Alley whispered looking at the ground, "your what?" Roman asked, he didn't actually believe he heard those words from this girl."I said I'm sorry" Alley repeated, "for everything" Roman's expression turned to that of empathy, he gave a solid nod before calling the cops to come pick the robbers up. Roman texted all the guys and Eira that he found her, and they were headed back to the apartment. Alley explained what had happened with the two kids and at the shop to Roman. "Even though you were being an absolute idiot, you weren't half bad" Roman said as they reached the door. "Thanks" Alley mumbled, they opened the door and Eira was right there waiting for them, "Alley! What happened are you ok?" Eira said quickly, "yes I'm fine I'll explain in the way home, it's late" Alley answered. "Alley can I talk to you for a sec?" Roman asked, Alley nodded, "Virge told me what happened and I wanted to ask you about your life" Roman explained. Alley knew what that meant, he wanted her to explain anything traumatic that had happened, and since she was turning a new cheek, she told him. She told him about the orphanage, about the fire, about the abandonment, and all he did was sat and listened. At the end of it all he finally spoke "since it sounds like you're having some trouble with emotions I would suggest tomorrow you talk to Logan" Roman offered, Alley just nodded and left with Eira. 

 

What would Logan know about emotions? He's the most robotic person I've ever met, Alley thought. "Eira, I'm sorry for the times I've snapped at you. You didn't deserve it" Alley apologized, Eira looked to the ground "I'm not going to say I didn't feel bad when you did that sort of thing, nor will I say it was justified, but what I will say is that I understand, and accept your apology" Eira said nodding her head. Alley dropped Eira off to her mother who was freaking out because they were back so much later than usual. Alley got back to the orphanage and climbed into bed, she turned and to look at the sleeping Riley. I'll make it up to her, Alley thought, although she didn't know if her cruel words could be forgiven. She drifted off to sleep, remembering how she had nearly almost died, and the superhero who saved her.


	10. Apologize Already

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> First of all, I'm so sorry for not updating! I've been suffering with writers block and overall laziness. Second of all, this chapter contains talk of abuse and cussing, so read with caution. Last of all, enjoy!

Alley woke up feeling guilty. She was such a pain yesterday, for everyone. She got up and got ready, I have a lot of apologizing to do today, Alley thought, sighing. She got on the bus and took her usual spot. Surprisingly, at the next stop Roseanna sat down next to her. "Hello Alley, how's your morning been?" Roseanna asked, this was the first time Alley had noticed the small twinge of a British accent coming from Roseanna's honey sweet voice. "Why are you so nice to me when I've been such a pain?" Alley asked staring into the girl's eyes, Roseanna patted Alley's knee, Alley tensed up at the touch. "I don't think you were a pain, I think your a guarded person who cares a lot, but doesn't want to admit it" Roseana explained. Alley looked to the floor, "you're aloud to say I was being an ass" Alley said, "oh I know I'm aloud, but I'm not going to say it because it's not true" Roseanna said, "it is" Alley replied quietly. Roseanna got very angry, very quickly, "will. You. Shut. Your. Mouth!" Roseanna said. Alley put her hands up in defeat, "maybe you're the aggressive one" Alley mumbled, "hey!" Roseanna said giggling. 

 

Alley cracked a small smile that quickly faded, Alley looked at Roseanna's arm. "What's that?" Alley asked gesturing to a decently sized bruise on her bicep. Roseanna's hand shot up to the bruise to cover it, "oh it's nothing just ran into a door yesterday" Roseanna said clearly agitated. Alley rose an eyebrow "well...are you ok?" Alley asked, Roseanna looked to the ground "yeah, I'm fine" she answered. They quickly changed the subject and talked until they got to school. Alley let something slip as she talked that she usually kept guarded. "Do you have any siblings?" Roseanna asked, "Well I live with a dozen other girls at the orphanage if that counts" Alley said without thinking, "oh…" Roseanna mumbled looking towards the ground. Alley immediately realized what she said, and immediately regretted it. She hated pity, people always become so weird around her. "Not having parents can be better than having them" Alley stated, crossing her arms, "yeah…" Rosanna said. Roseanna was peering out the window, but she was looking far past the houses and trees that were passing by. She was in another place, another world. 

 

They got to school and parted ways, Alley went with Eira, and Roseanna went with Coby. "I'm sorry for everything Eira, you've been trying to help me, and I've been an ass to you in return" Alley apologized, "I mean yeah you kinda were an ass, but you protect me, and talk for me, and comfort me when I'm having an attack" Eira answered, "gee thanks" Alley said sarcastically. Alley looked to the ground and when she wasn't looking ran into someone. She lifted her head appalled by who she saw, "hey! Watch it chick!" Growled Oakley Sail, Alley balled her hands into fists and held back her raging anger, "your that chick who called me a girl! Where's your friend huh? Did you scare her off? You can't keep any friends, your absolutely worthless" he taunted. Alley growled and was in the process of taking a step when a familiar voice came from behind her. "I'm right here Oakley, you called?" Rosanna sweet voice called out, "oh I was just telling Alley here how worthless she is, and how not even a loser like you would want to be her friend," Oakley said. Roseanna walked closer and closer to the two until she was inches away from Oakley. "What are you going to do? Shower me in rose petals princess?" He said, sticking his bottom lip out. Roseanna smiled sweetly and placed both her hands on either of his shoulders, "what? You gonna kiss me?" Oakley taunted. Roseanna swiftly and somehow gracefully kneed Oakley in the crotch, "that's for Alley" Roseanna grunted. Oakley yelped in pain as Roseanna pushed him gently backward sending him to the ground, "and that's for me" Roseanna said, brushing the dust off her dress. Oakley was yelling profanities at her as she smiled, waved, blew kisses, and twirled around. She walked back towards Coby, but stopped next to Alley not even turning her head, "maybe you're right," Roseanna whispered, "maybe I am the aggressive one" Roseanna winked and continued walking. Alley was in shock, she never took Roseanna for the violent type. "Wow" Eira said, "wow..." Alley repeated, "uh, we're going to be late" Eira muttered, "yeah" Alley replied. 

 

They walked to their classes and had a rather normal day. Until lunch that is. Alley and Eira sat in their normal place, shortly joined by Coby and Roseanna. It was pretty normal, but Alley noticed Roseanna kept hiding her bruise with her hand. Alley got curious and pulled her to the side. "Ok what's up with the bruise? You clearly lied to me earlier" Alley asked in a hushed voice, "I didn't lie" Roseanna said defensively, "then why do you keep hiding it?" Alley asked. "I, uh, it's just, um…" Roseanna mumbled, Alley grabbed Roseanna's arm and pulled her closer "h-hey!" Roseanna yelled. Alley ignored her and inspected the bruise. It looked like five lines connected by one line at the bottom. Alley looked up and met Roseanna's tear filled eyes. Roseanna ripped her arm from Alleys grasp and took off running. Alley didn't hesitate to take off after her, Roseanna ended up running off campus all the way to the garden in the park. Once Roseanna stepped inside the garden, the adrenaline rushing through her vanished, and the exhaustion hit her hard. She fell to her knees breathing heavily, tears streamed down her face. Alley ripped around the corner and found Roseanna crying. 

 

She got to her knees next to Roseanna and gently rubbed her back. Alley wasn't very good at comfort, but she figured this might help. Neither of them knew how long they spent like that, neither of them really cared. Roseanna eventually couldn't cry any more, she was completely out of tears. "So I'm guessing you didn't run into a door?" Alley asked, "no shit Sherlock" Roseanna scoffed. Alley stood up and offered her hand to Roseanna, Roseanna cautiously took it and stood up. "Are you ready to talk?" Alley asked, Roseanna took a minute to weigh the pros and cons, "I'll tell you a bit, but not all" Roseanna said. Alley nodded and sat on the bench Roseanna sitting next to her. "Ok you were right I didn't walk into a door...I was hit" Roseanna said her voice wavering, "by who?" Alley asked as gently as she could, but she knew a twinge of anger came through her words. "B-by...my mom" Roseanna stuttered, tears started to run down her cheeks. "Ok" Alley said, not knowing what to say. "P-please don't tell anyone" Roseanna pleaded, "but it's wrong! We could find someone to help you!" Alley said immediately regretting her volume and tone. "Not a soul" Roseanna said coldly, Alley nodded. "We have to get back to school we're going to get in trouble" Roseanna said standing up, "so? What does it matter? It's not like the staff is going to care" Alley replied, Roseanna glared "I have good grades and an impeccable attendance. I'm not about to ruin that now." Roseanna took of jogging towards the school, Alley groaned and ran after her. 

 

After school Alley and Eira did their normal routine, walk to Eira's house, get snacks, eat, then walk to the lair. Once they got their Logan opened the door, "Alley I'll be speaking with you out here today, Eira you may head inside to proceed with your training" Logan said in his normal monotone voice. He held the door open for Eira, but once she slipped inside he closed it and sat on the bench outside of their apartment. "Would you care to join me Alley?" He asked motioning next to him. Alley sat down on the opposite side as far away from him as she could get. "What?" Alley asked harshly, "I simply want to chat with you, I've heard you've been going through some things and I hope to be of use" Logan explained, "ok? So what do you want? My life story?" Alley asked, "precisely" Logan stated. Alley cocked an eyebrow, "really?" She asked skeptically, "that's what I said wasn't it?" Logan said. Alley sighed "ok let's start with my parents"

 

___________________________________

 

"Ok so we're going to test your frost breath today" Roman explained, Eira nodded. Roman held onto a metal cookie sheet and stood 10 feet away from Eira. "3! 2! 1! Go!" Patton yelled. Eira sucked in as much air as her lungs could handle, and blew it out fast and cold. Frosty breeze cut it's way through the warm apartment air. The cool breeze barely touched the surface of the cookie sheet, but it still covered the small area in frost. Eira took a few deep breaths to make up for her breathing pattern's disturbance. "That's good!" Patton exclaimed, clapping his hands. "Yes" Roman agreed "10 feet seems to be your max, but that is still impressive. I'm sure the distance will increase with age" Roman said, "ugh I'm sounding like Logan" Patton smiled and Eira looked to the floor. Compliments were the bane of her existence.

 

____________________________________

 

"And now I'm here" Alley just finished explaining all the key points in her life, and to her surprise Logan listened without any interruption. "Well it sounds like you've had quite the struggle," Logan said, "but the way you've been acting is no way to cope" he readjusted his glasses. "I just don't know how to hold back my anger and rude comments!" Alley exclaimed, "I understand, I too have trouble counseling my anger once in awhile" Logan admitted. "You? Really?" Alley asked, "yes, I would like to share a few tips with you if you so desire" Logan offered. "Sure" Alley shrugged, "before you say something think it through fully, would it damage the other person's feelings, would it add to the conversation, how would I feel if this was said to me?" Logan explained, "and with the anger, think about the consequences, you would have made an enemy, you could get in trouble by staff at school, would it really be worth your time and energy?" Logan this time readjusted his tie. Alley sighed "and if those don't work use 478, breath in for 4, hold for 7, and breath out for 8, it helps calm the mind. Just take a breath and take 3 steps back" Logan said. Alley nodded, "fine I guess I'll try," Alley conceded "but what do I do if I'm at my breaking point and want to punch something?" Logan thought for a moment "well leave the situation so you're alone, and either write down your thoughts or simply find something like a pillow to punch" Logan replied. Their conversation was interrupted by Eira walking outside, she came over to Alley and whispered in her ear, "Roman said he's kicking us out because he has a so called hot date" Eira giggled, Alley made a disgusted face and stuck her tongue out, "yeah I don't want to be a part of that let's go," Alley said, "bye Logan" she said waving. "Goodbye Alley, goodbye Eira" he replied. 

 

The two walked away and back to Eira's house. Alley climbed into bed when she heard a soft whimper, she looked over to see Riley with her eyes full of tears. Alley climbed out of bed and sat down on Riley's. "Riley, I'm sorry for what I said before, I didn't really mean it, I was just being stupid. Could you ever forgive me?" Alley apologized, Riley nodded, "thank you, now what's bothering you?" Alley asked. Riley sniffled, "a big kid at school made fun of me" she whimpered. "What did they say?" Alley asked gently, "they said I was a nerd for liking books" Riley sniffled. "Well what a nice thing to say" Alley said, "a nerd is someone smart and confident about who they are, they are confident enough to be who they really are, for example, you know liking to read isn't a popular option, yet you continue to read and talk about how much you like to read despite what others may think" Alley explained. Riley whipped away her tears and smiled "I am confident" Riley said proudly, "yes you are, but even confident little girls need to get their sleep. Goodnight Riley" Alley said as she walked back to her own bed. "Goodnight Kitten" Riley stretched and rested her head on the pillow. Alley did the same quite happy that she made friends with the small girl.


	11. Mysterious Stranger

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> No, it couldn't be *le gasp* an actual plot! Yes I have found a plot! Warning: violence

Eira woke up to her father's gruff voice. "Eira sweetie, time for another day of school" The man said gently, as he opened the curtains, letting in the morning sunshine. Light seeped through Eira's eyelids as she woke up "you mean another day in hell" she mumbled. She showed her father out and got dressed. I wish I could just stay in my room forever reading a book that never ends, Eira thought as she slipped her oversized peace sign t-shirt over her fitted long sleeved undershirt. She went to the bathroom and brushed her hair and teeth. She then made her way downstairs to the breakfast her mother prepared. "Eggs and toast on the table sweetie, drink all your water before school, during school, and as soon as you come home" her mother leaned down and kissed Eira on the head, "I know mom, I've been doing the same routine since kindergarten" Eira sighed. "And no powers at all during school under any circumstances, you could get hurt or killed if your seen with them. Get good grades, behave perfectly, and live up to your expectations. Bye now!" Her mother planted another kiss on her head before rushing out the door. "Bye" Eira mumbled sitting down and eating breakfast. She choked down the 2 liters of water and gathered her school supplies. 

 

Every morning her mother gives her the same monologue about being the perfect child, drink all your water, get perfect grades, be perfectly behaved. The only thing standing in the way of this perfect child her mother's mind created was those powers. Jane Tola was so close to having the perfect family, but then three things happened; one, those powers showed up, two, Eira had social anxiety, and three, Alley showed up. Even at the age of 7 Jane knew Alley was going to put a wrecking ball to their perfect family dynamics, as soon as Eira realizes she doesn't need Alley, Jane plans to boot her out of their lives for good. Eira tapped her father on his shoulder, "I'm ready to go father" she said unenthusiastically, Michael Tola cleared his throat and put down the article he was reading. Her father didn't have expectations like her mother, he just wanted her to be happy, but Alley still wasn't exactly on good terms with him. Eira hopped in the car with her father, and they drove all the way to Fallester Middle School, home of the gators. 

 

She got dropped off were the bus kids get dropped off to meet with Alley and Roseanna. Although Eira isn't completely comfortable with Roseanna she seems nice enough. Bus 51 pulled up to the school and opened its doors. Kids of all shapes and sizes piled out of the bus, Alley though, never got off. Roseanna stepped off the bus, "hello Eira, have you seen Alley?" She asked, Eira shook her head. "She wasn't in the bus today" Roseanna said concerned. Eira fiddled with the fidget toy in her pocket, and walked to her first class. She felt ten times more anxious without Alley their with her. The bell rang and she walked to her next class, still no Alley. The tardy bell rang and the door flew open. 

Alley entered the room with a bloody nose and black eye, she had a scowl on her face and carried herself with a menacing stance. The once bustling room went silent all eyes turning to Alley. She fell into her seat with a thump. The teacher cleared his throat "I, uh, class has started, let's try to focus" he said clearly detracted by Alley's current state. Class continued on as normal as it possibly could. The bell rang and Alley rushed out the door, Eira scrambled to keep up with her. "What happened?" Eira asked, Alley's face flickered in pure rage, "nothing" she said coldly. "something obviously happened, if nothing happened you wouldn't have a black eye and bloody nose" Eira fired back. Alley quickly grabbed a pair of sunglasses out of her bag and put them on. Alley didn't say a word and continued power walking to class. "Alley are you at least ok?" Eira asked concern, "I'm fine" Alley growled back. They skimmed through the day in silence, Alley didn't even speak to Roseanna or Coby at lunch. Alley didn't truly speak until they were at the lair. Dried blood left a trail down to the top of her lips, her black eye turned different morbid colors. 

 

Virgil opened the door, "are you, like, good?" Virgil asked. "I'm fiiinnnnne" Alley said rolling her eyes, she walked inside closely followed by Eira. Roman and Patton were setting stuff up in the kitchen well Logan sat on the couch. Eira bit her lip, I'm I really going to talk to him? Yes, it's for Alley, Eira thought. Eira walked over to Logan on the couch, Logan gazed up from his book "yes Eira?" Logan asked. "I-I, uh, um, I, uh… A-Alley…" Eira stuttered, "it's ok Eira take your time" Logan comforted, "A-Alley is hurt and m-mad...I, uh, don't know what to do" Eira stuttered quietly, "ok, can you help me talk to her?" Logan asked, Eira nodded. Logan went over to the two men and whispered something in Patton's ear. Patton nodded frowning and spoke to Roman in a hushed tone. 

 

Alley waited by the door, her eyes following the conversation. "They come here so they could get training from ME, not to get free therapy sessions" Roman whispered to Patton, "I've been realizing Alley always feels angry or sad. I can tell she's been through some stuff, give her a chance. Plus you don't want to have to train an angry teenage girl" Patton whispered back. Roman groaned "I guuueeeesssss" he gave in. Alley finally got curious enough "ok! What the hell is happening?" Alley asked, everyone turned to her in silence. Logan stood up "we're worried about you" he said, "why I'm fine" Alley said defensively "you have a epistaxis and a periorbital hematoma you clearly got struck by someone" Logan said, everyone looked at him confused. Logan rolled his eyes "bloody nose and black eye" he explained, everyone made an "ohhhhhh" face and nodded. "Yeah I got hit, but I'm fine" Alley growled, "why did you get hit?" Logan asked, "why does it even matter?" Alley fired back. "Because we're concerned with your well being" Logan said harshly. "Fine! You wanna know what happened? I'll tell you what happened"

 

_________________________________

~That Morning~

 

Of course I missed the bus, Alley thought as she started her long walk to school. She was kicking a rock down the concrete path when she spotted a man just ahead, standing their not doing anything. Alley became immediately suspicious and put her guard even further up. She was starting to get closer to the man, but he didn't look up from his feet. She was almost completely passed the leather jacket and sunglasses wearing stranger when it happened. "Alley Spark,13 years old, goes to Fallester Middle School, orphan, got abandoned when you were 7, your parents died in a fire caused by cigarette buds shortly after, but most importantly you have one hell of a secret" he listed. Alley stopped dead in her tracks, "w-what?" She turned around to face him. 

 

He looked up from his feet smirking "hello Alley" he said. "How do you know so much about me!? Are you stalking me?!" Alley demanded. He smirked again "I don't need to stalk you when I can simply read a file" he said. My file in the orghenge, Alley thought her eyes growing wide, "how do you know about my secret?" She growled, that certainly wasn't in her file. "Hi, I'm Remy" he said, putting his hand out for a handshake, "I didn't ask for your name" she said rejecting the handshake. Remy frowned "not very polite are you?" He said, "HOW DO YOU KNOW?!" Alley yelled, "takes one to know one" he muttered. Alley stopped in her fit of rage "why do you want to know about me?" Alley growled. Remy held his hand out to Alley palm up, "let me show you why, I know two people who have been waiting to meet you" he said. Alley took in a few deep breaths and started reaching her hand out. 

 

She firmly clasped her hand around his wrist and gave him a third degree burn. Remy screamed and used his other hand to punch her in the eye. Alley stumbled back onto the ground, her whole world spinning. She covered her eye with both hands, and due to the impact of the concrete her nose started flooding out with warm thick blood. Remy stood over her clasping his wrist in pain "y-you just messed up big time kid, but next time you'll join us, you'll see what we can offer you" he said, and took off running down the street.

 

_______________________________________

~Back At The Apartment~

 

"Then an old lady came out of her house and helped me clean up, and I walked the rest of the way to school" Alley explained. Everyone's eyes were huge, "what did he look like?" Roman asked, "leather jacket, shades, jeans, plain white t-shirt, pretty basic" Alley explained. "This guy could be really dangerous, it sounds like there's at least three of them, he claims to have powers, but he could easily lie about that, but how would he know about your powers. What could he mean by join us?" Logan talked to himself, while scribbling down notes aggressively into his journal. Logan looked away from his journal and to Alley "is there anything you could've missed?" He asked, "well, I almost passed out on the sidewalk so yeah I'd say I could've missed something" Alley said. "Ok, will you please give me permission to search through your memory to see if you missed anything? I promise I won't go through anything else, but that" Logan asked. Alley sighed "I guess" she replied. Logan's eyes glowed a faint blue as he looked through her memories, after a few minutes he snapped out of it. He sighed and shook his head "he wore a pin on his shirt, but I don't know what it means" Logan confessed, he doodled the symbol on the page and showed it around the room. Nobody recognized it. "what do we dooooooo?" Roman groaned, "we need to stay safe, we don't know who these people are or if they'll come back" Patton said, speaking up. "The training is even more important now than it ever has been. If whoever these people are come after either of you again you may have to fight" Logan said, "but let's hope it doesn't come to that" Patton looked a little shaky and Roman looked tired. 

 

"We shouldn't get into something like this again, we're done" Virgil spoke up from somewhere in the shadows. Eira jumped a bit when he spoke, "I would usually agree, but these are unusual circumstances. In the realm of powers Alley and Eira are our responsibilities. If these people are coming after them we need to make sure they have the skill set to defend themselves if needed" Logan explained. Virgil sighed "don't you remember what happened last time something like this happened?" Virgil asked, "it's different this time" Patton intervened. "What happened last time?" Alley asked, all four of them sighed, "it's a long story" Roman admitted. Eira checked her phone, "i-its 5" she whimpered, Alley nodded "We need to go...bye" Alley and Eira left and went home. Alley to the orphanage and Eira to her house. Alley and Eira drifted into a peaceful sleep, but to another it wasn't so peaceful. 

 

______________________________

~Back At The Apartment~

 

Patton was having a lovely dream about going to the dog park and playing with all the little pups when the dream became fuzzy. It seemed to glitch like a computer until Patton was standing in an all white room with nothing in it. "Hello?" Patton called out, three figures glitched into existence. They were all holding hands, the one on the left had a long curly mustache, the one in the middle matched the description Alley gave, and the one on the right looked to have the skin condition vitiligo. One of Patton's little cousins has vitiligo. "H-hello?" Patton repeated. The one on the right smiled "Hello, I'm Dee, this is Remy and Remus" he said. Patton smiled cautiously, he didn't quite trust them."Why are you here?" Patton asked, "to make a deal" Remus smirked.


	12. Continue?

Hello my readers. I have a question for you guys. Do you enjoy this story? Would you like me to continue with this story? Basically I'm having writers block and I want to know if you guys want me to continue this story. I love it, but I just don't know. 

 

Love, FreckledAuthor


	13. The Army

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The gang gets to the bottom of what the hell is going on. Warning: mentions of physical abuse

"What deal?" Patton asked, as he fiddled with his cardigan. Dee smirked, they still all held hands which made Patton giggle. "Those with powers are far superior to those without. Why should we have to hide in the shadows and let them run the world? With enough of us we can run it better then they ever could, with all of us combined and an ancient spell we can do anything. All your wildest dreams can come true. Join us in gathering more of our brothers and sisters, so we can make the world a better place" Dee preached. Patton felt his heart race "so what exactly are you asking?" Patton asked, "if you join our army and become one of our soldiers, you and your loved ones will be protected, your wildest dreams will come true, and most importantly you'll take a seat in running the world." Remus explained. Patton didn't know what to say, he was scared and surprised. 

 

"S-so you want to gather up everyone with powers, and take over the world? How are you going to do that?" Patton asked, "we'll start off broadcasting our reasoning and demand that we will rule. And if that doesn't work, we have an army of superhumans" Dee snickered. Patton knew this was a bad idea, they're insane! Taking over? How insane! Even if Patton was interested in this, he didn't think he could be a soldier. He couldn't hurt other people with his abilities. Patton was speechless, but managed to pipe out a simple sentence "C-can I sleep on it?" Patton giggled slightly. It took everything in Dee's power not to roll his eyes at the man's dumb joke. "We'll be back" Remus said, they all let go of each others hands. Dee and Remus glitched out of the dream, but Remy stayed in. He gave Patton a two fingered salute before glitching out. Patton woke up, breathing hard and his heart racing. "I have to tell the others"

 

_____________________________________

~At Fallester Middle School~

 

Alley's eye was still very much hurt, but her bloody nose cleared up. Eira was still shaken by the fact that she might actually have to fight for her life, for her safety, and with her powers! Alley was more on guard then she has ever been, sure she's fought people before, but never anyone with abilities like her. The four middle schoolers met up at their normal table, Alley had been paying close attention to Roseanna's arms to see if their were any new wounds. The first bruise had gone down quite a bit and looked to be healing up, but today Alley saw welt on her shoulder. Alley pulled Roseanna aside to talk to her in private, "you don't have to say it I already know" Roseanna sighed hiding the welt with her hand. "You know this can't keep happening, it's illegal and even if it wasn't you shouldn't keep getting hurt" Alley whisper yelled, "but they care about me I know they do! You would never understand!" She whisper yelled back. "If your not going to tell someone I will" Alley whispered. "Alley I trusted you! I trusted you to understand at least a little bit. To keep my one secret and now your betraying me!" Roseanna yelled. Everyone in the cafeteria turned to them in confusion. "What are you looking at!? Go back to eating!" Alley demanded lowering her voice, everyone quickly turned back to their food scared of what Alley would do to them if they didn't. Roseanna stormed off to the bathroom and Alley returned. "What's up her butt?" Cody asked sarcastically, Alley sighed. "Hey are you ok Alley?" Cody asked, "I'm fine" Alley said, sighing again. They went along with their day Roseanna never even glanced at Alley once. 

 

Alley would never admit it, but she liked Roseanna's company and it made her feel slightly bad even though she knew she was doing the right thing. Alley and Eira went to their home room where they got tiring news. "Ok class,Monday we're going to have a bring your parent to school day. Of course it doesn't have to be a parent. It could be any adult that has made an impact on your life. If you don't bring someone in, I'm afraid I'll have to fail you. They'll come in, talk about their jobs a bit and we'll give them a tour of the school" Their teacher explained. Alley already knew she was going to fail. She didn't have any adults that made a big impact on her life. Eira threw a piece of paper at Alley with a note written on it. 

 

Alley unfolded the piece of paper to reveal the note. It said; Patton could come with you! He wouldn't say no, and he has made an impact on your life! Alley shook her head and threw the note back. Eira made a confused face, but Alley just shook her head. Alley would rather fail then have one of her trainers come to her school. She just got a bad feeling about it that she couldn't quite explain. After school the two girls went to the lair and knocked on the door. They were both immediately pulled in by Patton, but… Patton was in the kitchen. "Who are you!?" Alley said swatting the copy away, "woah, woah, woah, calm down their Cat" the Patton from the kitchen said, walking over. "This is Two, he's my copy remember?" Patton said motioning to Two. Alley nodded "give a girl a warning" she grumbled, Eira was taking deep breaths trying to get her heart rate under control. Patton high fived Two and in a flash Two disappeared. 

 

"Sit down girls we need to talk" Roman said very serious. The two had never seen Roman be so serious before so they quickly sat down on opposite sides of the couch Patton placing himself between them. Logan stood in front of them, Roman sat in the chair, and Virgil sat at Roman's feet on the ground. Roman tried to play with Virgil's hair a couple times only to be met with Virgil smacking his hand away. Logan paced back and forth in front of them mumbling words none of them could understand. Patton starred worryingly at Logan as he paced. "What's happening?" Eira piped up just loud enough for them to here. Logan sighed and began explaining what Patton had told him about Dee, Remy, and Remus. 

 

Alley snorted "ancient spell? We aren't in a fairytale land" she said. "We all have magical powers and last year the four of us fought a big black smoke monster that could possess people, so yes, I'd say an ancient spell is possible" Virgil said. Alley didn't like Virgil purely on the fact that he could out sarcasm her. Well, she did trust him not like she would ever admit it or anything. "So what are we going to do about this?" Alley asked, "Well, first of all, we are all going to provide you with our phone numbers in case of emergencies, and we're going to stay out of this strange army is" Logan said, "I never agreed to this" Virgil added. Roman gently shoved him "your doing it mi amor" Roman said, "mi amor? Really?" Virgil said rolling his eyes. Alley raised her eyebrows "mi amor?" She asked, Roman and Virgil both had light pink brushed across their cheeks. "Oh yeah" Roman ran a hand through his hair nervously "we're kinda dating" Roman said. Alley had no change in facial expression, but her thoughts were running wild. Eira's eyes widened a bit, but quickly returned to normal. "kay" Alley said simply, Roman and Virgil let out a breath they were each holding. Alley didn't care, she was here to train not to get involved in their love lives. 

 

They all exchanged numbers and made contacts when Roman spoke up. "I'm the superhero here! While you guys hang out and stay safe I'll go out and track down these villain dudes! It's kinda what superheroes do ya know" Roman offered "nope, nope, nopeady, nope! We are ALL staying out of this. End of discussion. Even if you did find them they have an army!" Virgil quickly shut him down. Logan cleared his throat "according to Patton they've only recruited two people so far, so there's only five people in totally as of now," Logan said. 

 

A smirk spread across Roman's face as he looked around the room at the six superhumans including himself. Virgil's eyes widened and he threw his arms up "hell to the negative no! No one is going to try and find these guys! Not you, not me! Especially not the girls!" Virgil exclaimed, "hey, hey calm down their. Logan had been out superheroing with me, you have, obviously I have and even Alley has and she did a pretty good job!" Roman defended. Virgil took in a sharp breath "she almost got shot!" He exclaimed. Alley wanted to go find these guys, she wanted revenge and justice, even if they all went out together, she could still protect Eira too. "But Roman saved me. Just like we could do for each other in a fight. It will be like the ultimate training!" Alley said siding with Roman. "It's not safe" Patton added siding with Virgil. 

 

"You know what else isn't safe? Having a giant army take over the world! And if they fail, guess what? The whole world knows that people have powers and they'll see that they're a threat from this army, track us down and kill us all!" Alley asserted. Her words brought the whole room to silence, she had clearly gone to a dark place. Logan sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose, "unfortunately I have to agree with Roman and Alley. The best outcome of this is that they were bluffing. Other then that it will end in death and chaos. We have to try and stop them, I don't know how, but we just do" Logan said, Virgil's jaw dropped. "What about the girls?" Patton asked, "it's their decision," Logan said, "they are old enough to know the dangers, we'll keep them safe no matter what. It should be their decision" Roman nodded, and Patton looked worried. 

 

Alley took Eira aside to talk with her. "What do you think?" Alley asked, "I think it's the right thing to do, and I think it's an adventure waiting to happen" Eira said, smiling. "Wow Eira is getting braver" Alley said proudly. Eira smiled "yeah I've been getting more confident with my powers and I think that's helping with my overall confidence too!" She said. Alley smiled, nodded and walked back over to the bickering men. "Hey!" Alley yelled, all the attention turned to her. 

 

"Me and Eira have decided that we want to help," she said. Roman squealed and turned to Virgil "you know what this means right?" He asked. Virgil shook his head confused, "you get to make us all superhero outfits!" Roman squealed. "Oh bother" Virgil said trying to hide his true excitement.


	14. Helping Hand

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The chapter after this one is going to be a little short. This chapter and the next were supposed to be one big chapter, but it was really long, so your getting a normal sized chapter and a shorter chapter.

It was the weekend. Finally. The girls were standing outside of the community theater preparing for the crowd that was sure to be inside. Roman managed to convince them, or rather Alley, to come to his show that weekend. Unfortunately, both Logan and Virgil had to work, so they couldn't see Roman's performance, but Patton was their to watch and look after the girls. The two walked in and started wading through the crowd in search of the dad like figure. People in the town took the community theater pretty seriously. If you went to the theater you were expected to dress up a little. Especially during a late night performance like the one Alley and Eira were going to. 

 

Eira had dressed up a little wearing a white dress, and her strawberry blonde hair pulled back into a fishtail braid. Alley slicked her hair back with some gel and wore her only pair of unripped jeans along with a plain black t-shirt. They eventually bumped into Patton who wore a cream colored sweater and black jeans. His frizzy hair was pulled back into a stubby ponytail with a few loose hairs sticking straight up."hello! You two look nice today" Patton smiled and giggled, "thanks" Alley mumbled. "Come on! We need to get good seats!" Patton insisted turning and jogging up the steps. Alley and Eira followed behind at a leisurely pace, Alley opened the door to where the audience was seated. 

 

Heavy red curtains cascaded down from the ceiling floating gracefully just above the stage floor. The room was relatively dark with the only lights being small wall lights that lined the sides of the room. There were multiple small spotlights pointed at the stage illuminating the big red curtain, and seats that could hold over a hundred people. Alley and Eira took their seats on either side of Patton and waited as more people filed in and found their seats. The audience buzzed with excitement, as the wall lights dimmed and the curtain started to part. 

 

It was at this moment Alley realized she had no idea what this play was. She turned to Patton "what play is this?" She whispered "Long Day's Journey Into Night" Patton whispered back "Roman plays Jamie" Alley nodded and leaned back in her seat ready for whatever was to come.

 

~After The Play~

 

Everyone that helped make the show happen came onto the stage and took each other's hands going into a deep bow. A roar of applause erupted from the audience showering the actors and crew in praise. Patton, Alley, and Eira were clapping wildly as Roman smiled cockaliy as he was applauded. The curtain closed just as Roman blew a kiss, and the audience started leaving to go talk to the actors in the lobby. "I have to go to the bathroom I'll catch up with you guys later" Alley said parting away from the two and going to the bathroom. Eira quickly turned to Patton with a determined expression. "Patton I need to ask you something" Eira said. Patton widened his eyes in surprise he had never heard Eira speak a whole sentence, she even said it at a good volume! Patton was excited that she felt comfortable enough to talk to him. He even started doing little bounces.

 

 "Yes Eira?" Patton asked, Eira took a deep breath "there's this thing at school where you have to bring in an adult who has made an impact on your life. They talk about their jobs and my class shows them around the school. My teacher, who everyone hates, said if we don't bring someone in she'll fail us. Alley doesn't have anyone to bring in and she's too stubborn to ask any of you guys, so I'm asking you for her. Will you come to our school on Monday and be Alley's adult?" Eira explained slightly out of breath from the long monologue.

 

Patton starred in wonderment, he never heard Eira speak that much or at that volume! Patton was quite proud of her, but he needed to focus on what she said. Patton didn't hesitate for a second "of course!" He exclaimed, Eira smiled and nodded. She didn't think at all when she spoke. She only knew that this would be good for Alley and that she always speaks for Eira, so this time Eira spoke for her. Alley ran out of the bathroom and up to Eira. "I need to talk to you" Alley said with a familiar twinkle in her eye. They said goodbye to Patton and Alley started walking Eira home.

 

 "Ok I have an idea" Alley said "this is crazy, but remember how we overheard Roman complaining about his job that he hates? Well he seems to love acting and your mother is working on a movie set that needs extras! Come on Eira you have to tell her about him!" Eira shifted uncomfortably "I don't know Cat… my mother isn't exactly very open to opinions" Eira said. "Think about it, he has another show tomorrow night. Take her and give her the sales pitch" Alley sighed deeply "although I don't want to admit it, they've helped up big time. Look" Alley held her hand out closer to Eira. Sure it was a little tingly and weird feeling, but usually they would both be in extreme pain being even that close. "Soon I might be able to get close enough to help you. they've done a lot for us especially Roman. I'm trying to work on being more thankful for the things I have, and not dwell on the things I don't…" Alley watched her feet as she spoke and bit down on her cheek despite knowing well she shouldn't "this is something we can do for Roman. Hey he doesn't even have to know it was us" Eira nodded and looked down. 

 

They made it to Eira's house and Eira stood on her front porch while Alley on the sidewalk. Just before Alley turned to leave Eira spoke up "you know you've changed a lot" Alley turned back around and met her eyes. Eira gave her a small nod and a reassuring look. Alley smiled, it was a small infinitesimal smile, yet it was the brightest one Eira had ever seen from her. Eira walked in, her dad was doing the dishes and her mother was working at the table. Eira immediately felt scared to talk to her mother about Roman. She rushed up to her bedroom and closed the door behind her. What if I mess up and she yells at me? What if she hates me? What if she tells me I'm being stupid? Why do I have to be so scared all the time? Toughen up your being stupid it's not a big deal just man up, and stopping being a wuss for once in your life, her mind was consumed in thoughts. Her mind was filled with terrible thoughts running through her head, and suddenly… she couldn't breathe. 

 

She started hyperventilating trying to get air into her lungs, but it was just making things worse. She tried to call for her father, but all that came out were gasps and sudden quiet sobs. She dropped to her knees and started anxiously pulling her hair. She looked down at her hand to find chucks of her own hair she pulled out. Seeing that just made things worse. She doubled over onto her side trying to pull her knees to her chest, but not having enough strength to do so. She suddenly remembered her phone in her pocket. She shakely took it out and clicked on the first contact not seeing nor caring who she called. The person on the other side picked up after only two rings. "Hello?" The person said with much concern in their voice, Eira couldn't find her voice and just breathed rapidly into the speaker with a small sob here and there. 

 

"Eira?! Are you ok?! What happened?" The voice said. Eira listened to the concern and worry in the male's voice. She hadn't heard it many times, but she made it out to be Virgil's voice. "A-a-attack" Eira managed to stutter out. She immediately cursed at herself for saying that. I mean seriously, out of all the words she could have said she chose to say attack. On the other end Virgil was freaking out not knowing what to do. What good is an emergency number if the person on the other side doesn't know what to do when your having an emergency? 

 

Logan noticed the fear on Virgil's face "are you ok Virgil?" He asked placing his book on the coffee table. "Eira, attack, help" was all Virgil managed to say, "hold on" Logan said. Logan's eyes glowed as he began searching around the city for Eira's mind. Logan found it and searched her mind, he immediately got a pounding headache and returned to normal. "She's having a panic attack. This is your area of expertise" Logan said picking his book back up and turning to the page he left on. Virgil let out a sigh of relief. Yeah it was bad that Eira was having a panic attack, but that's much better than what Virgil had been thinking of.

 

 "Ok Eira, I know it's really scary believe me, but it will be over soon, I promise. Nothing is going to hurt you, ok? Just listen to my voice and follow my breathing, I'll get you out of your mind" Virgil said gently. Eira had curled up on herself still crying and hyperventilating. Her body decided to add the trifecta, and she was shaking now too. Virgil took a deep breath for four seconds, held it for seven, and let it out for eight seconds. He kept that pattern for a long time and Eira eventually was able to join him. She took a few shaky breaths and relaxed her tensed up body. She had calmed down with the help of Virgil and propped herself up against the door. 

 

"I'm so s-sorry" Eira said, "it's ok don't be sorry. Are you ok? What happened?" Virgil asked, "I-I need to go talk to my mother about something and I got too worked up…" Eira explained. "Ok. Just remember to take deep breaths and relax. I know it's really hard, but practicing helps. Everyday before you do something routinely like brushing your teeth practice breathing exercises. Then when you have a panic attack your body knows how to respond to it like second nature. Certain smells or textures can help calm you down too, but it's different for everyone. Your welcome to call me if you have another one" Virgil said, "thank you Virgil…" Eira said gratefully. "Your welcome Eira. Goodnight" Virgil said hanging up, Eira took a few deep breaths and walked downstairs. 

 

"Are you alright darling? Your eyes look puffy" Jane asked concerned, "y-yeah I just wanted to ask you something" Eira mumbled, "well go on don't just stand there" Jane ordered. Eira took in a deep breath "me and Alley went to the play at the community theater, and one of the actors in particular stood out. I believe his name is Roman. He is an amazing actor, and I know your movie set is looking for extras, so I want to propose that we go see the show tomorrow and you could perhaps talk to him about being an extra" Eira spoke persily and as smooth as possible because she knew that would win her mother over. "Very well. We'll go to the theater tomorrow. Go to bed, you must get a good ten hours" Jane said waving her away. Eira nodded and headed to bed. She started up at her ceiling and relaxed her body drifting off to sleep. 

 

~The Next Night~

 

Eira was dressed in the same thing she wore the previous night. Jane had also worn a dress and high heels. Her and her mother made it to the theater, and took their seats. Eira was too nervous about everything to pay attention to the show. Her mother showed great interest in the performance. She would raise her eyebrows at the actors or scoff at the not too good props they had to work with. When the show ended and everyone involved came out to take a bow Jane turned to Eira.

 

 "You may not have the best eye my dear, but this time I must give you credit. The actor you talked to me about was indeed up to my standards and the standards of the company. I will talk to him at once" Jane said, Eira smiles a little and nodded. "I'll be back dear, wait here" she said standing up and patting the top of her head. Sometimes this gesture made Eira feel like a dog who was rewarded for behaving, and it said an uncomfortable feeling through her veins. Nonetheless, Eira was happy that her mother was going to talk with Roman.

 

 Roman stood in the lobby in costume talking to all his adoring fans. He loved this part of the night almost as much as being on stage. Being praised for all the hard work he put into the performance was nice. He also liked how some of the people he interacted with treated him like a movie star. They would get all nervous talking to him while telling him how amazing he was. He's even talked to a handful of people who've asked for autographs or pictures! They would almost always say the same thing "your going to be a star someday I just know it" then there was this one guy. 

 

It had started as a normal interaction and then he asked for Roman's adagraph. Of course Roman agreed and signed a notebook for him. Then the stranger got a little weird. "What's your name stranger?" Roman asked, "my name is Emile. Remember me ok? We're going to have some things to talk about later. Thank you for the adagraph, I'm sure it will sell for a lot when you become a star" Emile smiles and waved a little as he walked away leaving Roman in a cloud of confusion. It wasn't the words he spoke that confused him, if that was all Roman would have brushed him off as crazy. No, it was the way he carried himself and spoke almost Logan like. He said each word with emotion and thought behind it like it really meant something. 

 

Roman snapped back to reality when he saw a woman he recognized starting to approach him. He recognized her, but could recall from where. His whole body tensed when he finally realized, she's been the creative director for a whole bunch of big movies! She walked up to him "hello, Roman correct? You played Jamie?" She asked, Roman gulped "yes that's me" he said with as much confidence as he could muster. "I found your performance intriguing. I would like to offer you a job." She handed a business card to him with all of her and her studios information on it, "my name is Jane Tola. If your interested you can contact me or my employer, and we'll give you further information" she spoke with weariness, yet had a strong tone. Roman nodded and looked in wonderment at the business card in his hands. "Thank you! I'll definitely be contacting you in the near future!" He said smiling, Jane nodded and walked off. 

 

~A Few Hours Later At The Apartment~

 

"VIRGIL!" Roman spotted the man sitting peacefully on the couch listening to music, Virgil jumped and spun around. He let out a breath of annoyment and relief "what Roman?" He asked sliding the headphones off his ears and placing them around his neck. Roman help up the business card triumphantly "I BASICALLY HAVE A JOB AS AN EXTRA ON A MOVIE SET!" He squealed, "wait really?" Virgil asked surely he was playing another one of his pranks. 

 

Roman threw the business card in Virgil's direction, and it landed at Virgil's feet. He picked it up and inspected it just to make sure it was really real. Virgil's eyes widen when he finally realized this wasn't a joke. "Roman this is awesome!" Virgil exclaimed, Roman walked over and pulled him into a hug which Virgil happily returned. They let go and Virgil handed the card back to Rroman.

 

 Logan came out of his room with a confused expression "I heard commotion?" He asked, Roman bounced up and down a little and explained what happened. Patton sneaked in the conversation halfway through the retelling and was quite proud of his kiddo. "I mean why wouldn't they choose me? I'm amazing!" Roman finished it off with, "this calls for some pizza!" Patton said excitedly already dialing the pizza places phone number. "I comply with Patton, this should be celebrated" Logan said, Virgil nodded in agreement, and Roman squealed yet again. 

 

The pizza arrived, and Roman and Virgil were up towards the counter each retrieving their third slice while Patton and Logan ate at the table. Roman picked up one of the bigger slices and put it on his paper plate, "I can't believe this, this could be my shot" he whispered blissfully. Virgil smiled up at him "yeah" he stood up on his tiptoes and messed up Roman's hair "don't screw it up"


	15. Loving "Father"

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Oh. My. Stars. I'm the worst author ever. My uploading schedule is worst then Garett Watts! I'm so, so, sorry. I've been very unmotivated lately and I'm not really sure why. But whatever! You know what let's do this thing! Enjoy my geeks!

Alley woke up and got ready as normal. Unfortunately, this means that something terrible is going to happen. With her track record, the day always starts off bright and shiny and then it goes down to the pits of hell. She sat on the bus alone for the first time in weeks. She looked around for a moment before spotting Roseanna in the back of the bus. She wore an oversized black hoodie with the hood up, likely one of her parents. Her usual style of a bright patterned dress poked out beneath the hoodie. The jacket was so big Alley could only see the last 5 inches of her colorful blue dress. Her beautiful poofy hair was pulled neatly back into two pigtails with no single hair out of place. At that moment her eyes dragged across the text of a fairly thick book, her face shaped in an expression of concentration. Alley contemplated getting up and taking the open seat next to her until she remembered the events of last Friday. 

 

Roseanna was really mad at her, in return Alley felt horrible. She knew what she did was right, she should tell someone about Roseanna's home life and she planned to, but that didn't shake the bad feeling in her stomach simply because she hurt her. Roseanna felt like Alley has betrayed her in the worst way of threatening to spill a secret. Characters in her books always have a hard time though. They always go through hardships before they get to their epic adventure. So, Roseanna had hoped she was just in her exposition. Alley got lost in her thoughts for a moment staring at Roseanna when it hit her. It's like 85 degrees out why is she wearing a hoodie? She sighed as she thought a horrendous thing, maybe Roseanna got a few new scars that she was trying to hide.

 

Alley sighed, got off the bus, and walked into her classroom as she saw parents lining the walls. No doubt boasting about their child's academic achievements. She then saw the terrible thing that was going to happen, Patton. He stood there smiling and chatting with all the parents. Alley glared in his direction she knew it wasn't exactly his fault, but she certainly knew who to blame. She marched over to Eira and scowled as she'd just ate something sour. Eira stared at her for a second before speaking "are you, like, gonna say something?" She asked, Alley, furrowed her brow. Eira had been getting bolder and Alley wasn't sure if it was a good or bad thing. "You invited Patton didn't you?" Alley hissed, Eria nodded "and don't expect me to apologize for it. I'm saving your grade and mental health. You'll thank me later" Eria said. 

 

Patton stood against the wall minding his own business when a woman approached him smiling. "Hello, my name is Ling," she reached her hand out and shook Patton's, "Which one is yours?" Patton stumbled over his words for a moment before finally getting his story together, "well I guess Alley would be my kiddo, but she isn't really mine. I'm her martial arts teacher" he explained, Ling smiled and nodded. "How nice of you to come for her" Ling smiled, "of course! She deserves it" Patton said. "Ok class!" The teacher spoke "get in your seats and we'll start introducing the adults" All the students took their seats as the adults, one by one, took the front of the room and talked about their jobs. Patton felt a ripple of fear cross him, he didn't like lying and he already told Ling he was Alley's martial arts teacher. 

 

Patton walked upfront, he put his hands in his pockets and rocked from his toes to his heels a couple of times. "Hello! I'm Patton! I work as a, ur, martial arts teacher. I'm here with Alley Spark, I may not be her parent, but I do care about her so that's why I'm here." Patton smiled nervously, not knowing what else to say. He walked to the side again as another adult went up. Patton looked towards Alley, she looked gloomy, but not mad, in fact, a glint of thankfulness shimmered in her eyes. The day carried on, yet Patton and Alley didn't interact until it was time for the adults to go. 

 

Alley wandered over to Patton as all the kids were hugging and kissing their parents. "Uh, hey. Thanks for coming…" Alley mumbled, Patton smiled wide "of course Cat! If you ever need anything I'm always here for you" Patton spoke as genuine as possible. Alley cracked a smile and fist-bumped Patton before he left. She smiled as Patton skipped out to his car and drove away. "Alley?" A voice from behind her spoke, Alley whipped around to Eira standing behind her with a soft smile on her face. "You know you wanna say it" Eira taunted, Alley begrudgingly hunched over with a scowl on her face, "come on," Eira said using her baby talk, which she knew would get Alley to say what she wanted. Alley let out a long obnoxious groan, "fineeeeeee, you were right, thank you for telling Patton" as Alley spoke she stood up straight in her face softened, she had a hint of sincerity in her voice and even allowed herself a small smile. 

 

After school, the girls walked over to the men's apartment. Over the past few weeks, they've gotten more confident with their powers and being around their mentors. They got so comfortable to the point where they will just walk straight from school to their house, dropping their backpacks near the front door and grabbing snacks from the kitchen. You could imagine Virgil's frustration when he found his midnight snack of Cheez-Its were eaten up. Slowly and steadily Virgil and Logan started joining in on their lessons. Logan would sit and take notes and Virgil would simply watch, and sometimes Roman could even get him the hold a prop or two.

 

 Eira knocked on the door and they were greeted by the familiar, happy face of Patton. They walked in as the chorus of hellos came from their mentors. They snuck into the kitchen to grab snacks when they were stopped by Virgil. "I need to take your guys sizes if you want to get into all this superhero shit," he said unenthusiastically, "hey!" Patton protested from the couch "language!" The girls giggled and Eria grabbed two oranges. Alley grabbed a pen and paper and quickly jotted down their measurements from hat size to shoe size. "Thanks" Virgil mumbled as he took the paper and made his way back to his room. 

 

As he walked two small folded pieces of paper fell out of his pocket, he didn't seem to notice. Roman walked over and picked them up, "Virge?" He called after him, he stopped and turned around to face him, "yeah?" He answered. Roman held the paper between his two fingers and waved it back and forth "whatcha got there?" He asked, "it's nothing," he said quickly his face flushed with embarrassment. Roman started to unfold the pages and Virgil lunged at him. "Give it back!" Virgil said slightly annoyed, Roman put his hand on the other's chest and gently pushed him away. "Calm down mi amor you said it was nothing after all" he carefully unfolded the pages and lit up at what he saw. "Why would you be embarrassed about this?" Roman asked, Virgil, sat in silence and embarrassment, "what is it kiddo?" Patton asked curiously. "Yeah, hot-shot" Alley leaned against the counter and began peeling her stolen orange as Eira curiously sat at the table. 

 

Roman smiled and held up two drawings, one of the Alley's costume, and the other of Eira's. They were detailed and clean other than the abundance of scribbly notes taken on either side of each sketch. Logan squinted and read the notes as Patton put his hands on his cheeks and cooed. Virgil managed to grab the pictures, fold them up, and shove them back securely in his pocket. "Ooo! The cloak and the gloves, it's all so amazingggggg!" Patton squealed, "the notes you've made seem rather accurate with their powers and movement restriction" Logan added. Virgil smiled and waved them off "yeah, yeah, whatever, thanks" he flipped his hood on and went into his room, or The Cave as the girls call it. Roman giggled and turned back to the girls "ok let's get back to training" Alley nodded and threw her garbage away as well as Eira. 

 

They had just started discussing what was happening for training that day when there was a knock on the door. As not to disturb the teachings Logan got up and answered the door. "Hello?" Logan's voice wavered, everyone's eyes immediately snapped towards Logan. Logan's voice doesn't waver, doesn't crack, doesn't stutter. What the hell is happening? "Hello Logan" a smooth voice spoke, it sent a shiver through Alley's spine. They spoke with a slyness equal to that of a fox, and an unsettling tone that made you tense. Patton's eyes widened "w-wait," he said quietly, the person pushed their way into the apartment and they all jolted up, a small rush of adrenaline consumed them. Virgil walked out of his room at the sound of all the commotion and froze at the sight before him. There stood a lengthy man wearing bright yellow gloves and a sly smirk on his face.


	16. Don't Breathe

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dee is rude and violent

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Haha, this has been a decent amount of time from my last chapter. I got an editor, she's my friend and I don't want to reveal her sEcRet iDeNtItY or whateva so I'll be referring to her as Charlie. Charlie is great and she's been helping edit my chapters.   
> Warnings: violence   
> That's all, thank you and enjoy!

"Who are you?" Alley growled, standing up and puffing out her chest. Roman, Eira, and Patton all stood up, and Roman gently shoved Alley out of the way to stand in front of her. The man tsked and folded his hands behind his back, "Alley, Alley, Alley. So much potential, yet, you couldn't simply take a hand. Perhaps your friends can convince you otherwise" he smirked. Alley's face formed into a look of confusion, while Patton's a look of fear. "That's Dee" Patton piped up, and Dee smiled unpleasantly. "Ah yes, Patton, you're the one we visited, courtesy of Remy" Alley growled and Logan put his hand on Patton's shoulder. "You're not welcome here" Logan declared, and Dee only chortled. "Patton had promised me an answer, he's either with us or against us, same goes for all of you," Dee said crossing his arms, Patton giggled nervously "Hey maybe we can just talk about this. You know work something out" Dee hissed in response. "Are you in or not?" All eyes were on Patton, he gulped and shook his head, "Uh, no thank you" everyone let out a sigh of relief, well, everyone except Dee. 

 

He turned towards the door for dramatic effect and hid his smirk behind his glove. "Well I suppose I'll leave you with a parting gift" he did a quick about-face and extended his arm allowing a snake to come flying out of his sleeve. They all jumped back and Dee smiled quite pleased with himself. The snake seemed to grow before their very eyes. It just kept growing and growing until it was longer than the couch and wider than a lions back. Eira started to shake from fear and Alley felt the adrenaline rushing through her veins. The snake twisted around the room hissing and showing off its pointed teeth dripping with venom. Patton's heart raced and his head started to spin. 

 

"What do you want?" Roman snarled, "An army" Dee smiled, the viper herded them all together in the center of the room nipping threateningly at their ankles. The reptile made a full loop around the six causing them to squeeze together. "What's the purpose of this?" Logan demanded, "Like I said if you're not with me you're against me, and frankly you six together are a threat to me" Dee explained, "we have nothing to do with this! We're not a threat either!" Patton pleaded. "Oh, but you will be" Dee glared "Whether you like it or not you all are ancestors of the warlocks and you WILL be involved in this war" Alley wrinkled her nose "Warlocks?" She asked, “Yes! Ugh! Must I hand feed you all the information you should already know?!" Dee yelled. The room went dead silent. 

 

Logan tried to get into his mind. Although he knew it was a breach of privacy and not something he enjoyed doing, however, this seemed like a reasonable situation. No matter how hard he tried, he just could not get into his mind. There was some kind of barrier stopping him from looking, it seemed impossible. 

 

Alley thought about reaching down and burning the snake but quickly thought otherwise. If 6th-grade science class taught her anything, it's that snakes are cold-blooded. If she tried to burn the snake it would just absorb the heat like a sunny day, and after she would have attempted to hurt it, it would just whip around and sink its teeth into one of them. 

 

Dee snapped his fingers and the snake quickly tightened around them. The shorter of the six Alley, Eira, Virgil, and Patton found it immediately difficult to breathe as it wrapped tighter around their stomachs. Roman and Logan also found it harder to breathe, but not as much, for the snake only met a few inches above their hips. The shortest, Eira, began to feel her lungs collapse. Her knees had become weak, but something was stopping her from becoming unconscious. She felt a fragment of her mind and body stopping her. She started focusing on that part of her. She closed her eyes and felt the snake let go, she could breathe clearly and felt herself relax. She opened her eyes again expecting everything to have disappeared, but when she did the scene was the same. Eira's lungs suddenly found it hard to breathe again. 

 

"The next time I see your faces I won't be so merciful" Dee snarled. With another snap of his fingers, himself and the snake evaporated. They all parted from each other gasping and sucking in air. "What was that?" Alley asked breathlessly, despite the troubling circumstances Roman still found himself biting back a theater reference. Everyone stayed silent choosing instead to even out their breathing. "This is exceptionally more troubling than we first believed" Logan sighed, Patton nodded and loosely hugged Logan's arm. 

 

"So what are we going to do about it?" Alley asked with a hint of aggression, "I hate to say it, but I think the villain’s right. We have these abilities we're part of this no matter what. I may have no idea what the whole 'warlock' thing is about, but this isn't what we first assumed. This dumb war thing is going to happen, and right now we're the only ones who know about it. Certainly, none of the normal people know about it, and so far the only ones with abilities that we know about are the ones on his side and ourselves. We need to do something, get more info, figure out a way to stop them. Because if we don't the whole town, heck, the whole state could be taken over!" Roman recited his monologue as he sat on the couch and pulled Virgil onto his lap. Virgil squirmed a bit but quickly relaxed in his arms. 

 

"I think your rushing this kiddo" Patton said carefully. "Who knows what he's planning? We don't want to put the kids in danger" Logan gently interfered before Roman could go off again. "The kids are already in danger. He doesn't seem to care about the age of the people on his side of the people he's hurting. May I remind you Alley has already interacted with someone on his side, and let's just say she didn't leave a good impression. Patton rejected his offer which seemed to have put all of us all on his bad side including the girls" Patton went quiet at the mention of his name. Could it be that because of him, he put all of them in danger? Because he rejected Dee's offer? No, he was protecting them from harm...right?

 

 "Well I for one, am exhausted. Also done with this bs, but I guess I'm not getting out of it" Alley sighed, "I don't think any of us are" Virgil responded with a groan. "Hey cheer up!" Patton said trying to convince that of himself too, "This can be like a fun board game, with real consequences of course, but we'll ignore that for now" Patton giggled nervously, "So? Who's up for a game of Clue?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for reading, see you next time <3


	17. Scottish Fairy Tales for the Unafraid

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Eira stumbles across an important discovery in the library as Alley tries to stitch her relationship with Roseanna back together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just a quick reminder that any plot, characters, world-building, etc are not cannon in the LIP/PT universe, this is just for fun and a way for me to practice my writing. Enjoy!

Alley trudged around campus looking for Roseanna. She was going to make her see telling someone about her parent's abusive state will be useful. She spotted her sitting in the grass, and leaning against Coby for support. Alley walked over to them and spoke "Roseanna? Can I talk with you?" She nodded lifting her head from Coby's shoulder. She gazed at Alley with an icy stare, nowhere near a glare, nowhere near a smile, yet it hurt like a stab to the heart. "Uh, in private?" Alley added, Roseanna shrugged and stood up. Alley walked over to a private area, Roseanna close behind.

 

      "What do you want?" She asked distantly, "I want to make up with you. I'm not changing my opinion, but I want to help you. I would not be doing this if I didn't care about you. Your parents are toxic and you need to get out before they explode. Your putting yourself through hell for nothing" Alley explained, taking a step closer to the girl. "Your kidding? You don't care about me. You're trying to get involved in something you clearly don't comprehend. You don't have parents and will never be able to understand the relationship there is between a guardian and their child. No one will be able to understand the way my parents show their love. If you tell someone you won't only be breaking my trust and our friendship, but you'll be breaking apart my family. That's something I could never forgive you for Alley" Roseanna's voice was filled with raw emotion and sorrow, her eyes glossed over with tears and her fists were clenched. 

 

     Alley wanted to be mad, but she simply couldn't. She wasn't wrong, Alley wouldn't be able to understand a proper parent-child relationship. Alley is going to have to do a bit more than just talk with her to fix their relationship and help Roseanna. Alley sighed, "I won't tell anyone, I promise." she said, a small smile formed on Roseanna's face as her muscles started to relax. "Alright, I guess that'll work" Roseanna hesitantly reached out and wrapped her arms around Alley's shoulders. She pulled her close into a tight hug. Alley's eyes widened but gently hugged back. 

 

     The rest of the day carried on as usual. Roseanna now talking with Alley again. At the end of the day, she started walking with Eira. "Can we stop at the library?" Alley asked, it was only a few blocks away from the school and on the way to the guys' house. "Sure, but why?" Eria responded. She knew Alley didn't find much joy in reading, so it was an unusual pit stop. "I need a book, duh" Alley responded. "Not the answer I was looking for," Eira said like a math teacher to a kid who got the wrong solution. "Yeah, whatever" Alley held the door for Eira as she walked through. 

 

     The library was huge, to say the least. As soon as you entered you were met with a small central area with book returns and checkouts. To your left was the children's section. Eira remembered coming to activity times here with her mother. She would waddle in holding her mother's hand, in awe of the endless rows of shelves. She skipped her way into the kid's section and sat on the colorful rug along with a dozen other kids. A library employee would pull up a stool in front of the rug and read them a story. The library looked exactly the same as it did eight years ago. The colorful rug, the table for arts and crafts, a small fort with a basket full of sparkly scarves, and two computers tucked in the corner.

 

      To the right was the adult section. It was bland, filled with ten times as many books as the kid's section. Alley took a sharp right turn and started looking for the psychology section. Eira turned to the children's section and started pursuing the mythology books. Alley tilted her head reading the titles. Psych 101, The Mind of a Deceiver, How to Stop Unwanted Thoughts, The Road to Easy Sleeping, and How to Escape Abusive Parents. Alley perked up and took How to Escape Abusive Parents off the shelf. She shoved it under her arm and walked back to the checkout area. 

 

     She plopped the book and her student ID card on the desk. In an attempt to get kids to read more, the library started allowing kids to use their ID cards to check out. So far, it's been unsuccessful. Alley impatiently rang the bell to check out as Eira slid a book on the counter. Scottish Fairy Tales For The Unafraid was the book she chose. Quite ironic considering Eira is scared of everything. To their surprise, Patton came from the back room and up to the counter, "sorry for the wa- oh! Alley, Eira! It's nice to see you two" Patton beamed and scanned Alleys card, "whatcha reading here?" He smiled and inspected the book "Do you enjoy psychology?" He asked, scanning and stamping the book. "I just want to know more about it" Alley shrugged, taking the book and ID from Patton. 

 

     He scanned Eira's card and began the same process with her book choice. "Mythology? Do you like it? I've never read it" he questioned, Eira nodded as Patton handed it over. "So far I've only read Greek, Roman, and Egyptian. So that'll be new" Eira spoke quietly, Patton smiled and nodded. The girls started walking out, "bye dad:" Alley said not thinking about what she was saying. Patton lit up and smiled wide, "bye girls!" He called after them. Alley went red from embarrassment and walked away briskly. Accidentally calling your teacher 'dad' is one thing. Accidentally calling your teacher 'dad' when you don't have a dad is another. It means it wasn't an instinct it was something your brain decided to do because of a 'special connection'. She didn't like that. 

 

     After training, where Roman decided it was a good idea to throw grapes at them to test their reaction time, Alley got home and immediately went to work on her book. She took notes on a pad and wrote down advice from the book. She knew she was a slow reader, and this was a 400-page book. Just 50 pages a day, she thought, I can do that. She closed her book, slid it under her bed and leaned back onto her mattress. 

 

~3 days later~

 

     Alley was taking a stroll in the park when she got a phone call. "Hello?" She answered, "Alley you need to meet me at the lair right now" Eira spoke with urgency. Alley could hear Eira's fast-paced steps even through the phone, it must be important. "Ok, I'll be there in a second, bye" Alley hung up and made her way to the lair. She approached the ajar door getting more anxious every step. 

 

     Alley walked into Eira sitting on the couch, looking down at something placed in her lap. The four boys surrounded her closely, also looking down at Eira's lap. Alley closed the door behind her and everyone looked up. "Finally," Roman said, "we've been waiting for like twenty minutes." Virgil nudged him playfully "barely five," Roman's nose twinged and looked back at her lap. Eria beckoned her forward as Alley walked over. The book Eira got from the library, Scottish Fairy Tales for the Unafraid. She had had the book open to a title page near the end of the book. Five single words were written across the page, The Wondrous World of Warlocks...


	18. Northern Heritage

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Ancestry DNA who?

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello, first of all, thank you for reading this long. Second of all, I want to make some things clear. I am aware that my writing is not great. This is just a way for me to practice my writing and this story is more of a way for me to tell the story instead of being solemnly focused on the writing and grammatical stuff. The story that I'm really practicing actually trying to be a good writer, as well as storyteller, is Where the Loons Nest. Basically, this story is just that, it's just me trying to be a storyteller, it's not me trying super hard to write perfectly. Anyways thank you for reading this far I hope you have a good day, enjoy!

They all gathered around the book, tension cut through the air like a knife. "Eria," Logan spoke calmly, "I think now would be a good time to start reading" He suggested, everyone nodded in agreement. She cleared her throat and everyone took a step back to give her space. She turned the page and began reading the first myth.

      "Everyone knows about witches and warlocks. But not everyone knows how they came to be. There once was a small village of very poor people. The children of these people would go out every day in the forest to play together and sing songs. Little did they know they weren't the only creatures lurking in the woods. Beautiful fairies would watch the children play and listen to their songs of sorrow." She cleared her throat. 

     "One small fairy loved their songs so much she decided to grant them a wish. However, these were smart children. They gathered together and whispered back and forth before deciding what they wanted. Some chimed in to get water for their village, some chimed in food or wealth, but nothing could solve everything, that is until the eldest made a suggestion. "Distribute your great powers among us!" The eldest cried the fairy gasped in shock. Doing this would mean she would die with no powers, but every fairy must do whatever they were told after saying they'd grant a wish. She grew cold and deceitful. "Fine!" She stormed, "Then you shall get your wish! I distribute my great powers among you children, however, with a price! Everyone in the world will believe your powers bare evil intentions! No matter how much good you do!" The fairy's powers left her body seeped into the skin of the children."

     "Later that day they returned to the village and combined their powers to bring wealth, freshwater, warm homes, and food to their village. Just like the fairy had said, the people of the village gasped in revolt upon seeing the children's powers. They were chased out of the town and forced to fend for themselves. They began writing spells down forming many books of witchcraft. As they grew, the next generation witches and warlocks came to be. They continued on with this lifestyle, generation after generation, they made their own society of magic." 

     "The people in the village got angry. "Demonic magic!" They cried, "they must be disposed of!" So they gathered every witch girl and every warlock boy, and promptly hung them. They were down to the original children, although, they were no longer children, but old and wise. All lined up in a row, with rope tightly fastened around each of their necks. "Any last words?" The leader of the village asked, they all locked eyes with one another and nodded, for they knew this day would come. "May the last words of the magic holders be not words but a chant in which magic is held," They chanted as if they were one, "Thousands of years from now, when our ancestors roam this Earth, we grant upon them one wish of magic. May our ancient powers rise once again to meet our children's wildest fantasies," a switch was thrown and what was thought to be the last of magic was gone. Little did they know of the dozens of magical children hidden in a mama bear's cave." 

     Eira read, everyone in the room suddenly saw themselves in a whole new light. Their whole worlds were rearranged into something completely different. The room was silent, but emotion was buzzing. Six souls all stuck in the same situation, none of them knowing the right way to react. Alley took a breath, "it doesn't matter. It doesn't change anything," she said, the others nodded hesitantly. Logan took a breath and repositioned his glasses. 

     "We have new training today," his deep English tone cut through the silence, "you'll be fighting me." everyone's eyes widened, "that wasn't the plan this morning" Roman protested, "we also didn't plan to be attacked by a growing army, yet, here we are," Logan countered. He then continued to explain how, with our consent, he would look into our minds to avoid being hurt while still giving us a challenge. Virgil immediately opposed. "Someone will end up getting hurt," he spoke sternly, "but they'll get good training," Roman added. 

     Everyone looked at Patton. He flushed slightly, "erm, how about we go to the junkyard, and then we can get all geared up with first-aid just in case someone gets hurt? Then we'll all be happy! Right?" He looked around, waiting for everyone's approval, once he got five nods and smiled, "ok kiddos! Let's pack up and roll out!" He giggled. After a few minutes of gathering safety supplies and snacks, they walked down to the junkyard to find a worthy battle arena. They settled on a cleared circular area, aka, teens go-to drink and smoke location. Patton sat on top of an old, rusty car hood, neatly placing the first aid equipment in order from most likely needed to least likely. Virgil was talking to Roman explaining why this was a bad idea whilst his boyfriend hugged him and reassured everything would be ok. First up was Logan vs Eria. 

     They stood on opposite sides, Eira closest to Patton and Logan closest to the lovebirds. "Three, two, one, go!" Patton called out, they both jumped into action. Logan immediately took the role of defense as Eira played offense. She formed a small ice whirlwind in her hand and sent it flying like a top in the other fighter's direction. He quickly ducked away from it and sent a pebble flying in return. The girl let out a small yip and frantically encased the miniature rock in ice; with the new weight in tow gravity pull down on it. It dropped to her feet and she went full-on gladiator mode. She reared back like she was throwing a fastpitch and threw a small, sharp, glass-like shard of ice at the man. He ducked down as the ice shattered against a monster truck worthy tire. The small girl continued to bombard Logan with ice shots as he frantically dived from side to side. 

     Patton held his breath and Alley had a small smile on her face. Her girl was holding her own. She was proud of her. Virgil began digging his nails in the palm of his hand again. Roman swiftly swept in and took his hand in a tight grip, squeezing it reassuringly. Eria quickly grew tired and tapped out, Patton rushed over and made sure she wasn't going to pass out while Alley stepped up to the plate. "Remember, nothing big, you can't set this place on fire," Logan warned, "I won't, I won't," Alley said, rolling her eyes. Patton counted them off as he gently applied a wet cloth to Eira's forehead. 

     Alley made a run towards Logan. The man responded by throwing a sliver of scrap metal in her direction. In a moment of panic, she threw her left shoulder back, the rust grazing her skin to create a thin surface-level cut. Logan stopped in his tracks but Alley kept going. She made a run for him and grasped his wrist to signify a game over. She confidently dropped his wrist and stood quite proud of herself. "Don't get too cocky, if you were in a real fight they wouldn't have stopped for your health" Logan explained, Alley rolled her eyes as Patton came up behind her. He took her arm and dabbed the shallow wound with a hydrogen peroxide covered cotton ball. The girl flinched away, "I'm fine Patton," she promised. "You still need to be taken care of," he responded sternly, tightly wrapping a white bandage around her shoulder, "you do have all your shots correct?" Logan confirmed, she nodded and let her arm fall to her side. 

     Everything seemed so quiet again. Everyone was still thinking about the book, but no one wanted to bring it up. It felt like talking about your new puppy when your friend's dog was just hit by a truck, insensitive. "I think we should head back home," Roman proposed, standing upright and tilting his head in the direction of Logan's vehicle. "It's only four o'clock" Eira pointed out, Alley nodded along, "I think we all need a break for now," Roman concluded, and began walking towards the car. The others silently agreed and fell in line behind the prince. 

     The half a dozen spent the remainder of their training session sitting in the Lair's living room watching "Tangled" and passing around a bowl of popcorn. A buzz of Alley's phone broke her attention from the movie as she checked her notifications. It was an unknown number. Her brow furrowed as she went into her messages and found the strange text. Four single words flooded her vision as her heart sped up. ‘Alley, it's Roseanna, help.’


End file.
